Butterflies in Our Soul
by Zionophy
Summary: Pharos finally breaks free from the psyche prison and reveals himself to his captor, Minato Arisato. But it seems that the chains of the heart and soul are stronger than the chains of the mind. Pharos has to be stuck with Minato until God-knows-when. Being only visible to a fortunate few, Pharos's will to be physical grows stronger and he does, but be careful what you wish for.
1. Chapter 1

If one were to ask Minato Arisato what he desires most, he would mostly likely answer that he wants the whole world to disappear and only he and his music exists, even just for moments.

But this teenager possesses enough common sense that his wish is not possible. The world and the people in it just don't go _POOF_ and disappear; that's just plainly absurd. On certain events though, he eventually wakes up in the middle of the night. In those nights, if he were to wait for a while, everything would turn into something . . . indescribable to the boy's eyes. His surroundings would become a harsh shade of green and the water would turn to blood. The moon would become significantly larger and the people would be encased in coffins. Those are the times he felt free from the world. And then, the world would eventually revert back to normal.

He didn't know—much less care—when that started. At least he gets his wish during those times . . . or at least half of his wish since his electronics would turn off and he wouldn't be able to resign to his rock and metal music. Indeed, it's such a shame.

Minato walked off of the train that transported him to Iwatodai and stepped into the platform. The loud chatter of the people surrounding him was drowned out by the music playing from his mp3.

 _So . . . this is Iwatodai, huh? Tch, lots of people are still here._

Arisato had moved several times already. All of the places he had stayed in had the same people. They were noisy, arrogant, and deleterious. Every trait that Minato disliked the most, the people had. Iwatodai looked like it wasn't much of a difference.

 _Tick, tock, tick. . . ._

In a split-second, Iwatodai became the place that appears in the middle of the night. He made a mental smile. He didn't have the time and energy to do a physical smile. He pulled out his Iwatodai map from his pocket. His blank eyes scanned the routes to reach the dorm he was assigned to. In a matter of seconds, he had memorized the shortest and quickest path to the dorm.

He remained unfazed by the coffins and blood. He appreciated the silence. His footsteps echoed all around the city. That was the only sound that was made at that time. No cars were blowing their horns. There were no ladies catching up on their gossip. No food vendors were shouting to buy their products. It was just Minato and his footsteps.

Somewhere in the distance, Minato heard a man screaming like he was dying. What followed next was like some sort of lava flowing. Once the lava sound stopped, the man stopped screaming too.

 _It was probably my imagination._

That was the seventy-sixth time he heard that sound throughout his life. That was also the seventy-sixth time he dismissed it as his mere imagination.

* * *

After about more than half an hour, Minato reached his destination. His dorm looked like it had about three stories. The entrance to the dorm looked like what an entrance to a fourth-class hotel would have. Actually, the whole dorm looked like a hotel. The entrance had some steps and the doorway held two doors made of glass and high-quality wood. Minato stopped staring at the dorm and walked inside.

The interior of the dorm was pretty well-lit and didn't look green like it was outside. At his left was long counter with flower pots. In front was a television and at his right were two chairs and two sofas and in the middle of them was a table with a linen mat on top.

 _Not too—_

"You're late," a young voice called out from the counter.

Minato swiftly looked at his left and found a close-to-albino boy with black and white pajamas. His hair was flattened but still a bit messy. The kid's eyes had a sky blue shade and they were so wide that they gave Minato a sense of eagerness. There was a tiny but still noticeable mole under the child's left eye. The mystery boy possessed a thin yet playful smile.

 _His presence is familiar . . ._

The child continued, "I've been waiting a long time for you."

In a snap, the mystery was right in front of Minato. Minato could've said his usual "Personal space," but this child piqued his interest. Strange, no-one had ever piqued Minato's interest before.

"Now, if you want to proceed, please sign your name there." The child gestured to a thin red leather paper holder. It opened to show a single piece of paper. "It's a contract. Don't worry; all it says it that you'll accept responsibility for your actions. You know . . . the usual stuff . . ."

 ** _Time never waits.  
It delivers all equally to the same end.  
I hereby agree to the statement above,  
and I chooseth this fate of mine own free will._**

Minato didn't really need a contract. He was already aware of this before. He proceeded to sign his name in kanji on the signature block at the bottom with the feather pen next to the contract. Minato handed the signed contract to the mysterious boy. He really did pique his interest. The boy held the contract close.

"Contract received. Time delivers us all to the same end." The child magically made the contract vanish from thin air. "You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes."

The boy closed his eyes concentrated and let the darkness grasp him but . . .

It never came.

The boy started to sweat.

"Uh . . . this is most unusual. Gr . . ." The boy gritted his teeth and concentrated more. He just couldn't dissolve and disappear.

Minato thought that the boy was having a bit of trouble. "What's the problem, kid?" asked Arisato.

"I can't seem to—Gah!" The boy lost his energy and the well-lit dorm was engulfed with green. He was still there. "This is . . . an embarrassment—"

"Who's there?!" questioned a feminine voice from Minato's left. There stood a brunette with brown eyes, wearing a pink uniform and a black skirt. A red ribbon was fit around her collar. She was wearing a red armband with black figures. She was too far away for Minato to see the letters. Around her right thigh was a holster with a silver gun . . .

 _Aren't firearms banned from this school? Hell, I'm pretty sure firearms are banned from every school._

The kid was still here. The female was breathing deeply and was beaded with sweat. Minato didn't answer her, so she reached for her gun. But just when she was about to grab ahold of it, another voice from the stairs stopped her.

"Takeba, wait!"

On the stairs was a female senior with magenta hair and steely eyes. Her attire was the same as whom Makoto assumed was Takeba, but her uniform was white.

"But Kirijo-senpai!"

"Don't worry; he's an ordinary transfer student." The firmness of the voice of the senior shut Takeba up. The boy bit his lip. He didn't like strict people that much.

The darkness escaped and everything turned back to normal. Loud Rock music blasted on Minato's ears again, to his content. Well, the boy was still there. The two girls didn't seem to be paying attention the mysterious child. The kid decided to give up. He hid behind Minato and clutched his jacket tightly despite knowing that only Minato could see him.

Kirijo continued, "I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who lives in this dorm."

 _Huh, I've heard that name before,_ the boy thought. Apparently, Minato heard the kid's thoughts and blankly glared at him.

 _I can hear you,_ Minato thought back. The two girls conversed with each other, while Minato and the boy talked mentally.

 _This is too strange. First, I cannot disappear according to my will and now we seem to share our thoughts with each other . . . Do you know anything about this phenomenon?_

 _Sorry. I'm as clueless as you are._ Minato did his best to appear like he was listening to the girls. He decided to walk upstairs. The child followed reluctantly.

"Wait!" Takeba shouted, but Mitsuru Kirijo cut her off.

"Your room is at the end of the hallway of the second floor. It's not easy to forget, is it?" Minato plainly nodded. "Takeba, take him to his room." Takeba shot up as if she were in objection. Mitsuru introduced Takeba to Minato.

"I'm Yukari Takeba." Yukari had some _hesitations_ on this boy. He was giving her a weird vibe.

"Minato Arisato. Nice to meet you."

"Same . . ." Minato stole a glance on Yukari's holster. Why did the school allow this?

Mitsuru handed Yukari the keys to the transfer's room. Yukari showed the transfer his room. The little boy had no choice but to follow.

When they reached his room, Yukari asked, "Um . . . on the way here, from the station, was everything okay?" Her voice quivered as if she already knew the answer that nothing was alright in the first place.

"Hmm?" Minato pretended that he had no clue what she was talking about.

"Uh . . . never mind. Good night."

Minato unlocked the door of his room and entered inside with the boy. At his left was a study table and mirror and at the end was a bed. The bed looked tempting to Minato's eyes. He closed the door and locked it.

"Oh wow . . . I've never seen houses of humans before . . ." muttered the boy.

"This isn't a house. It's just a room," corrected Minato.

"O-Oh!" The boy blushed as red as ripe tomatoes. "I'm not well-versed with the lives of humans, you know . . ." The boy looked down on the floor. "Uh . . . I cannot seem to use my powers as for now so . . . do you mind if I stay h-here . . .?"

The boy sniffed some of his tears back. Droplets ran down from the boy's eyes to his chin to the floor.

"What's the matter, kid?"

The boy shouted, "I have a name!"

"What is it?"

The boy's eyes widened and his pale skin flushed a baby pink color. Minato thought it was adorable. "Uh . . . mmm . . . I . . . I actually never thought of one but . . . I guess 'Pharos' would be alright . . ."

"Well—Minato extended his hand for a handshake—I'm Minato Aristo, but you already know that." Pharos shook Minato's hand hesitantly. Pharos's hand was . . . cold, yet it gave Minato a sense of security.

Pharos let go of Minato's hand and watched the midnight sky from Minato's desk.

"The moon . . . it's so glorious and bright tonight. Say, I've heard about these things. They're called 'stars.' I heard that they are like tiny freckles that give us light and they are beautiful when they are splattered all over the night sky . . . I don't see any freckles. Do you?" Pharos looked at Minato for an answer.

"No. There are no stars twinkling tonight." Minato set his bag right next to the bed. Pharos kept on glaring at the sky.

"How come?"

Minato answered, quickly, as if his answer had been practiced and recited over and over, "Human felony. Some people here are doing some bad things that prevents us from seeing the stars."

Pharos sighed with distress. "That is such a huge shame. Future generations might not be able to see the stars, if this keeps up."

Minato nodded in agreement.

"Pharos, it's been a long night. Why don't you sleep on my bed?"

Minato bit his lip and cursed at himself. It was rare for him to speak lengthily. But Pharos was just making him do what he is against. He didn't like human chatter and yet there he was—talking and talking. There was something in Pharos that Minato appreciated, but what?

"Oh! That's very kind of you . . . Minato . . . Senpai . . ." Pharos's whole body shook. This name calling was making him feel weird, but at the same time, warm. It made him joyful to call someone "Senpai."

Pharos climbed on the bed and wrapped himself with the fluffy blankets like a burrito. He felt comfort spreading across his body. He never had this human treatment before.

"Uh . . . Good night . . ."

Minato rubbed Pharos's hair and Pharos chuckled a little.

"Good night, Pharos."

Minato stood up, watched Pharos drift off to deep slumber and smiled.

Minato Arisato smiled.

* * *

 **AN: Well, how was it?**

 **Please R &R. Constructive criticism would be lovely. Thanks. (I'm not a talker, am I?)**


	2. Chapter 2

Pharos woke up with an uncomfortable dryness in his mouth. The sensation was new to him—and he loathed it. His tongue was like sandpaper and every time he tried to dry his throat with saliva, it felt like hundreds of knives were being shoved down with an unstoppable force in his throat. Was this how humans wake up every time? If so, he couldn't help but feel pitiful of them.

He sat up and stretched instinctively, as if it was second nature to stretch. It sent a thousand jolts all over his body. He shivered from the tingling feeling. He glanced at his left and found his roommate, sleeping soundly with his head resting on the desk.

"Hmm . . . human life observation number one: Humans do not need the so-called bed to fall asleep; they can fall asleep anywhere they like . . ."

He hopped off the bed and walked to Minato. He slowly patted on the blue-haired teen's head.

"Um . . . what do you call it again . . . oh—Arisato-senpai, it's time to wake up!"

Minato scrunched his forehead angrily and muttered, "Pharos, give me five more minutes."

Pharos rolled his eyes and nudged Minato on the ribs. "Human life observation number two: It takes five minutes for humans to regain one-hundred percent of their condition after their sleep."

"It'll take more than that if you don't leave me in my peace."

Pharos had to find a way to wake Minato up. Maybe if he uses the stuff in Minato's backpack? No . . . His mp3? Pharos eyed his mp3 immensely. He noticed that there were sounds blasting out from those two disk-like things. He grabbed those two. He observed Minato clip them on last night and he copied it. It fit perfectly.

 _Uh . . . what next?_

"Arisato-senpai, how can you do those weird things with this?" Minato just woke up very slightly and death-glared at Pharos. The innocent child just grinned widely. Minato had no choice but to press his little rod-like music player. The song continued from where it left off, near the chorus. Pharos flinched from the loud music. Despite the painful noise, Pharos managed to listen to the song for a while.

"What? Why would anyone want to burn their bread? That's just a waste of food!"

After a few seconds, Pharos removed the clip-ons.

"I do not appreciate your music. It is too boisterous. Do you at least have something that sounds like a Gregorian chant or maybe Renaissance music?"

A song came on Minato's mind but before he could play it for Pharos, he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hey," said the voice of Yukari, "Mitsuru-senpai told me (more like commanded me) to bring you to school for today. Whether you like it or not, you're gonna come with me. You have a whole hour." Then she just left, without waiting for an answer.

Minato just stared at the door. Minato's blankness was cut off when little Pharos opened the window of his room. A small zephyr entered and cooled the room. Pharos embraced the heat of the sun.

"The sun . . . it feels nice and warm. And the wind . . . I feel safe . . . Days aren't like nights. Nights are uncomfortably cold . . ."

While Pharos was in the middle of appreciating nature, Minato asked, "Have you ever been around during the day?"

Pharos's heart felt heavy and he looked down. "No, not really. I tend to be at my most powerful when it is night, especially when—" Pharos cut himself before he said another word. The fact that Minato does not know much about the special hour made him do so. "N-never mind what I was about to say. Forget it."

Pharos was keeping something discrete, but Minato wasn't the type who would chime in about what people hide. Pharos just smiled sweetly at Minato, as if he never said anything. Minato secretly loved Pharos's smile. Physically, it looked cold, but Minato knew it had a warm intent.

Minato stood up and reached for something inside his backpack. "I have to go to school, Pharos." He pulled out a Pocky box and threw it at Pharos. The child, lacking hand-eye coordination, juggled the box until it fell on the chair. "Stay here and make yourself at home."

He brought his school uniform and a towel and headed for the bathroom. When he was about ten steps away, he heard a quiet _thud_ in his room and ignored it. Not until a few steps further, Pharos shouted for help. Minato slowly walked back and opened the door. Pharos was lying on the floor. Minato arched a questioning eyebrow at Pharos.

"I uh . . . somehow levitated towards the door when you left . . ."

"I don't have time for your antics."

"Ouch. Isn't that rude?"

Minato walked away and kept the door open. This time, he felt a strange pull towards the direction of his room and almost stumbled back. Pharos was slowly floating towards Minato.

"Uh—it seems that we cannot be separated. It's like we're two opposite poles that attract each other."

 _Seriously? My god, then do I have to do everything with Pharos?_

 _I can hear you, you know!_ Pharos scowled at Minato distastefully. A few seconds of contemplation and maybe, just maybe, that it probably won't be bad for them to do everything together. The kid's company was actually . . . _enjoyable_ to Minato.

Minato sighed. "Come with me."

"Like I have choice."

Minato rolled his eyes at Pharos's dry wit and smirked. It wasn't every day that Minato gets to be attached (in a way, literally) with a mysterious boy who can make one of the most expressionless people on the face of the planet smile.

Fortunately for Minato, there was no-one who was going to queue for the bathroom since he was the only boy in the dorm at that day.

* * *

Unfortunately for him though, if Pharos were to stay outside, Pharos's face would be planted right at the door, so he was forced to come inside with Minato.

"Personal space," said Minato as he closed the shower curtains to strip. He dumped his dirty clothes on the basket next to Pharos. Pharos eyed them carefully as he listened to the hypnotic downpour of the shower. It sounded almost comforting to him. The water was out of tempo and yet it was music to Pharos.

Pharos's curiosity got the best of him.

"What does it feel like?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"What's the feeling . . . of letting water hit your body?"

Minato just rolled his eyes and ignored the child's question. Pharos pouted and growled at Minato.

"Well, if you aren't going to answer my question . . ." Minato's eyes widened as he saw Pharos's silhouette take of his pajamas. "I might as well experience it firsthand." Pharos had a malicious expression as he entered the shower.

"Pharos, no, stay outside!" Minato was being violated by a child with overwhelming curiosity. Well, in a way he was violating said child also, because he was also naked. "I'm not wearing any clothes!"

"Me too! Isn't it alright in Japanese culture to take baths with other people exposed to the environment?" Minato's face flushed for the first time in his life.

Minato answered back furiously, "Yes, but we don't show our private parts to each other!"

"Ooooh." Pharos tried his best to look innocent, as if he didn't know what he was doing. "We're stuck with each other anyway, so might as well, right?"

"Fu—"

Outside, Mitsuru Kirijo shut the raging teen off. "Arisato. Is everything alright?" Minato quickly clasped Pharos's mouth shut.

"Y-yes, senpai." He glared at Pharos with the heat of a thousand stars. Pharos just shrugged lightly.

"Who were you speaking with?" she questioned.

Minato gathered himself and spoke in his usual monotone. "Just with my friend from my old school."

Kirijo's bullshit detector was going off the charts, but she decided to ignore it. "Mhmm. Please hurry, Arisato. You do not want to be late on your first day."

Minato sighed. "Yes."

Minato waited until the footsteps of Mitsuru's boots were out of earshot. When it was, he almost screamed at Pharos, but then thought, _He's just a kid with a huge curiosity in the world of humans. Just leave him be._ Of course, Pharos heard his thought. He pounced on Minato's back and hugged him tightly. Minato suddenly felt sluggish as he felt Pharos's genitalia on his spine.

"Thank you so much."

"For what?"

"Oh, for letting me stay last night. You seem like a harsh person on the outside but inside, you're wonderful." Minato hated being complimented, especially when people tell him that he is a nice person. But he gave Pharos a chance.

"Um . . . okay."

A few minutes later, they finished taking a bath. They dried themselves with towels (Minato had to teach Pharos how to wrap a towel around his waist. Of course, in the first attempts, Pharos wrapped it around loosely and it fell several times. Minato quickly accustomed himself in seeing Pharos's penis. A disturbing sight, yes, but he didn't care anymore). Minato quickly got dressed in his uniform, but then realized:

 _Oh shit, Pharos doesn't have clean clothes._

Minato cursed at himself. He knew he should've pushed Pharos out when he had the chance!

Keeping his I-don't-care demeanor, he asked "Do you mind wearing the pajamas you wore yesterday?" Pharos knitted his eyebrows at Minato.

"Of course I mind! They're obviously unclean!"

"From what? You're an abstract being. Your clothes can't possibly get dirty."

Pharos blushed in a defeat he didn't want to accept. Also, he was pretty offended and hurt when he was called "abstract."

Anger, hatred, rage welled up inside Pharos. It was like he was a glass bottle and his emotions were his contents and the word "abstract" was the chilling vapor from a freezer. He was about to break and shatter from the freezing temperature.

"Since I'm abstract, my clothes are dirty from abstract dust, abstract dirt, abstract mud, and ABSTRACT EVERYTHING!"

And he shattered.

Pharos's screech rang in Minato's ears. No-one else heard it. Minato gulped in guilt and regret as he saw crystalline tears flow down from Pharos's eyes down to his chin. His hands are balled to a fist, as if he were ready to punch Minato. But physically, Pharos was too weak to do that.

"Whoa, Pharos . . . I didn't mean to—"

"Yes, you did!" He glared at Minato. His eyes were a disturbing combination of red and blue. And his eyes were not the usual bloodshot red. They were as red as wine. The red was conflicting his metallic blue eyes. Minato guessed it was a special trait of Pharos.

Pharos continued. "I'm ABSTRACT! I'm just a person in your mind! I'm just a ghost! I'm just a whisper in the wind that no-one would notice! I do not have the ability to be in your plane of existence, right?! So, really, I deserve to be called abstract!"

"Pharos . . ." Minato looked at himself in the mirror. Who was he to have a right to call someone like that? If he was abstract and he was like that, he knew he would be hurt. He noticed that he couldn't see Pharos in the mirror . . . as if he didn't exist. He suddenly possessed a special interest on the floor. "I'm . . . I'm—"

"Sorry?!" Pharos clenched his fists that his fingernails were cutting through his skin. "Sorry doesn't cut it! Your pathetic excuse for an apology doesn't turn me into a real human being!" Punches were thrown at Minato for every word that escaped Pharos's mouth. Rage took control of Pharos's mind.

In the middle of the unprofessional punching, Minato grabbed hold on both of Pharos's fists. Pharos tried to pull them away, but his hands were like iron. So, he tried to kick Minato with all of his strength and might.

Unfortunately, he stubbed his toe on the toilet.

"OW!"

Excruciating pain shot up from the child's foot and it tingled all over his body, like jolts of electricity. He thought he heard his little toe's bones crack. He quickly crouched and blew on his toe like it's the last thing he'll ever do.

Minato contemplated on what he was about to do.

Will he do it?

Will he not?

It didn't matter. Everything for Pharos.

Minato bent down and kissed Pharos's little toe.

Pharos quickly pulled his foot away in shock. "What do you think you're doing?! That's disgusting!" said the child who took a bath with another person on purpose.

He glared at Minato with fire in his eyes. Minato just shrugged and rubbed on Pharos's toe. To someone from a view, it looked like a butler rubbing the foot of a master.

"My mother always did that when these little accidents happened to me. She said that it was some kind of magic healing ritual."

Still, his toe throbbed in pain. What was this madman saying? Pharos knew there was no kind of "magic healing ritual" in this world . . . or at least the one Minato was referring to. He's familiar with a few healing rituals so he knew this one was fake.

"That's absurd! It still hurts—ah!" He glanced on Minato's eyes. "What are you—"

He stopped himself before saying anything. Minato's worried expression . . . He was sincerely being apologetic to Pharos. Minato's gray eyes sent knives of guilt to Pharos's heart. Silence does say a thousand words especially "Sorry," "It's my fault," and "I care about you too much to hurt you." Pharos started breathing rapidly and then eventually broke down in regret.

He wrapped his hands around the sorry human's shoulders and pulled him in for a wet and cold embrace. Both of them knew that they had pushed each other too far.

"I'm sorry, Pharos . . . I never thought that you want . . ." His words were left to dissolve in the still air. Tears and shower water dampened Minato's uniform. He didn't care though. What was a uniform to his bond with Pharos?

If there was anything Pharos wanted most in the world . . .

"I just want to be a real boy . . ."

* * *

 **AN: A ship will be introduced soon. And by soon, I mean next chapter. I swear, you have never seen or imagined this ship, for I ship weirdly.**

 **Please R &R. Criticism is welcomed. Hope you have a good day!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Oh Lord, bless me with silence, for I will be sent into oblivion with all of the voices of the humans here. Or at least bless me with a loud rock song. Yes, ironically, rock songs are made by human voice but still . . ._

The train to Gekkoukan High wasn't crowded. But there were enough people to make loud, useless chatter. As said before, he loathed it, especially when they were gossiping.

Pharos just finished eavesdropping from two students who were whispering to each other while stealing glances at Minato and Yukari. Minato had been keeping watch on them for quite a time.

"They wanted to make rumors about you and Yukari-san. They said that both of you seemed like a _good couple_." He said the last two words with a quotation motion with his fingers.

Typical. Their imaginations and fantasies just won't leave them. Minato figured that they were going to be a pain for the year.

Minato wanted to change the topic.

 _How are your new clothes?_

Pharos rolled his eyes. "Well, ignoring the fact that you got these in the lost-and-found stuff that Mitsuru-senpai kept hidden in her room, and even if she pressed you with a bunch of questions why you need kid's clothing, they're pretty decent. They're just my size and I could easily breathe in with these clothes."

The clothes he was wearing were a white round-neck with a blue hollow circle at the left side of his chest, right about where hearts beat the strongest. Its sleeves were colored sunset orange. He was wearing short-shorts—made of the fabric used to make jeans—that reached to half of his thigh. He sported blue basketball shoes. Minato was, in a way, infatuated of how well Pharos pulled off this attire. He (of course) did not give even a hint that he liked Pharos's appearance.

Yukari said something but Minato was too spaced-out to hear her. He asked Pharos what she said, before it seemed like he was ignoring her, which he actually was doing.

"She said that this was her favorite part of the day."

In the clusters of buildings, the train escaped and was surrounded with the clear blue sea. Pharos took an excited breath and kept it in for a long time that he felt like a balloon.

"I see why she likes it . . . it's so beautiful." His eyes sparkled along with the sea. "One would look in a distance and they will think that they're looking at there is a huge land of sky blue diamond. And if anything, this body of water is more valuable than a body of diamond."

"Yeah . . ." Minato muttered.

His small word reached Yukari's ear.

"Huh? What did you say?"

Minato shook his head and stared back outside. "I just said 'Yeah.' I can see why this is your favorite part."

"Glad you appreciate it . . ." Yukari quickly looked at all the people. They were just talking. This deeply annoyed Yukari.

"Y'know . . . everyone has been so busy with life and talking and gossiping and flirting that is seems like they forget to appreciate the things life has thrown them right in front of their face. To them, the cherry blossoms are just there . . . this gorgeous sea is just here . . . They forget to appreciate these because they're so caught up. That's why they're always sad and depressed."

Yukari sighed with relief. It's the first time she said that to someone. She finally got her thoughts off of her mind. Minato was just looking in the distance. She couldn't predict him, which disturbed her. Was he thinking of what she just said or did he ignore her? She decided to remain calm.

"Now that I think about how they're so depressed, I feel depressed too . . ." She glanced another time at Minato. No change. Her expression turned to annoyance. "Were you even listening to what I was saying?"

Minato nodded.

She sighed. "Mph—you're so dull."

Pharos chuckled and, with a huge grin on his face, said "Truuuuuuuuuuue."

He argued, "Not true."

Yukari raised her left eyebrow at Minato. "Oh yeah? If you think you aren't dull, I dare you to flirt with at least five females by the end of August. Bet ya—"

"Deal."

Yukari jumped up and stomped her foot. "Oh! You think you're so hot, huh? To raise the stakes, then get in a relationship with FOUR by the end of . . . November! Hah! Even if I reduced the number of victims and lengthened the deadline, it will be more difficult than the first dare tenfold."

"Okay. Then I guess you're my first victim."

"WHAT?!" Yukari screamed along with about twenty other students who were listening to their conversation.

"Oh! This newbie got no chill!" said this one guy.

"New kid, make me your second victim!" said a female fangirl.

"Damn! Yukari-san got herself in trouble!"

"Tsk," said a brunette kid drinking black coffee from a thermos while reading newspaper, "immature teens with all of their shipping crap. No wonder they get bad grades all the time."

Pharos diverted his attention away from the paparazzi that is suffocating Minato with questions and skipped over to the brunette.

He waved at the boy and said, "Hi, I'm Pharos!"

When the boy didn't reply, he remembered that only Minato was able to see him. He sighed with despair and sat at the boy's left. The boy was reading an article about something called "Apathy Syndrome." Pharos's expression darkened as he skimmed through the article. There was something wrong in said syndrome. And it isn't just people turning into zombies so suddenly. What was worse than the syndrome itself is the cause.

"Huh—I ran out of coffee . . ." He exhaled on his hand and examined his breath. "My breath stinks. I should brush my teeth when I get home." He eyed his thermos for a short while. "I think I should add milk on my coffee, so I can get taller also . . . But I like my coffee black."

There was a light pull that Pharos felt towards Minato. He fought the pull because he wanted to stay.

There was something fascinating in the way the boy spoke. There are so many problems in the world like the Apathy Syndrome, but he still worries about the simplest things like how he's going to drink his coffee.

"I should visit Koro-chan and mom at the shrine this weekend. I haven't seen him in days." He sighed with a hint of sadness that Pharos felt. "Stupid auntie, making new irrelevant rules."

He mocked, " _You can only go to the shrine under my supervision. No talking to the canine; it might have flees. You should go to the shrine less frequently; your mom needs some time alone._ Ugh, I'm sick of it. Who is she to dictate what I do? Gah! Asshole!"

A few adults started to glare at the boy and gossiped to each other.

"Hey, it's that kid . . . monster that . . . midnight . . ."

He avoided their eyes by looking at the window. It was this again. He moved several times already under one year. Wherever he moved, he was always the talk of the town and how he was turned insane when his mother died. He knew that wasn't true. He still had his sanity in check.

Pharos knew he wouldn't reply but . . .

"Hey, can I know your name?"

There was only dead air for a few seconds, until Pharos focused on the words he said. Both of them felt freezing chills up on their spines, but mostly on Pharos. He touched his back lightly and it stung a little. The boy's eyes grew as blue as Pharos's eyes and became expressionless, as if in a trance. He faced Pharos only turning his head.

Involuntarily, he asked again, "What's . . . your name?"

The boy's eyes changed back to brown and then blue again, for a split-second. Pharos's left hand balled into a fist, though he didn't mean to. On his mind, he knew that he shouldn't open his hand.

"K-Ken . . . Amada . . ."

Pharos felt his grin reach both of his ears. It was a phenomenal experience. Painful, yes, but worth it. He needed to talk to Amada longer.

"I'm Pharos." He went straight to the point. "Do you want to be friends?"

Both of their spines felt warm then and Ken's eyes grew back to brown. But Pharos still felt like he needed to keep his hand closed.

"O-Of course I want to be friends, but . . ."

"You can trust me."

Pharos extended his right arm to Ken. Ken glared at it for a few seconds, deciding what to do. He thought that the kid who he has just seen for a few seconds was creepy. But he wasn't going to lose anything. In fact, he would gain something. It has been a while since he was offered friendship. All of his "friends" in the past couldn't care less about him. Their parents told them to avoid Amada. He could have a fresh start with Pharos.

He nodded and shook Pharos's hand with no hesitation.

Pharos felt daggers stab on his left wrist. He had to let go.

"I don't have much time. Come back here every school day at the same time if you wanna see me again."

 _Just a little longer, please._

"Uh . . . okay. Every school day."

"Promise?"

Ken nodded and wiggled his right pinky finger at Pharos. Pharos questioned Ken what the gesture was.

"It's a pinky swear. You make a promise with it and you are bound to that promise forever."

Pharos cringed. "I have a bit of a problem on the 'forever' part because I don't believe in that, but sure!" He locked pinkies with Ken and shook it. Pharos had to open his left hand because it was already too painful. In fact, he could see his arteries on his entire arm.

The bond broke.

All of Pharos's energy was sapped and the world suddenly spun around him. Ken felt a painful pounding on his head and dark blood ran down from his nose. He suddenly felt lightheaded and crashed on the train's floor along with Pharos, both knocked out from fatigue. The pounding was as if there was a prisoner inside his head, desperate to find a way to escape, and continuously punching his skull.

Minato felt a twitch on his shoulder and instinctively headed to the direction of Pharos, pushing the fangirls who were dying to go on a dinner date with him. Then, he heard several people gasp in chorus and he started to run.

 _What have you gotten into, Pharos?_

He found Pharos's limp body on the ground along with another boy. Unaware, he unlocked Pharos's recent memories and learned that the boy's name was "Ken Amada."

"Are you this kid's guardian?" questioned a chubby middle-aged man with random sprinkles of gray hair. There was no need to lie, so Minato answered that he has no idea who Ken was. He grabbed his purple handkerchief and wiped the blood and snot off of Ken's nose. Before he could check for a heartbeat, an amateur paramedic stole his thunder and did the first aid necessary. Minato carried the body of Pharos and cradled him as he sat down. Yukari and the students rushed to the scene. They started wondering what had happened.

 _What the hell did you do, Pharos?_

"Hey, you're headed to Gekkoukan, correct?" He didn't wait for an answer. "You should get this little guy to your clinic. Apparently, he doesn't have a phone so we can't call his guardians and not even an ID to identify who he is. But since you were the first to act on the scene, you must have relations with him."

"No, I have no idea who he is."

It took a while for the paramedic to clear his doubts of the student. What was a high school student even going to do to a kid like Ken?

It's not like he's going to ask the kid to shoot himself with a gun.

* * *

 **AN: Guess the ship?**


	4. Chapter 4

_On a scale of one to ten, how much would you rate your pain right now?_ Ken asked himself.

 _6.02x10_ _23_ _, obviously._ He answered. The pain wasn't as huge as it was a while ago, but it still hurt like hell.

He woke up inside a blinding white room. He felt a blanket touch his bare skin. He looked at his left and found his soccer shirt hung on a chair. There was a doctor conversing to Minato, who only answered with nods. At his right was . . .

"Pharos?" he mumbled softly, so as not to alert them.

Apparently, he and Pharos were on the same bed, covered by the same blanket, both naked from the upper body, and only a few inches away from uncomfortable intimacy. Pharos was in a state that troubled Ken gravely. He was somehow opaque and he could see right through him. Occasionally, Pharos disappeared and then reappeared again, like an improperly fit lightbulb.

According to his compilation of useless facts he found on the Internet, Pharos was inside a dream. And he looked like he was delighted from the dream.

"Heheh," Pharos sleep-talked, "you too."

Pharos scooted closer to Ken and embraced him with one arm on his chest, loosely but enthusiastically. Ken could feel his heart pounding faster and warmth settling on his cheeks. His mouth kept on twitching to a crooked smile. Sweat beaded on his forehead. There wasn't any layer at all to keep them even a micrometer apart—no. The skin of his bare body was touching the skin of Pharos's bare body with one hundred percent intimacy.

 _God, this isn't how I imagined my first date would be. Wait, why am I even thinking that this is my first date?!_

He wanted to get up and walk away, but something compelled him to stay next to his _partner_.

 _It must be how he smells like laurel wreaths and fire and butterflies._

 _Nice excuse, Ken._

 _Shut up, me._

 _Yeah, right._

He whispered as quiet as possible, "HeyPharoswakeupyou'rehuggingmebecauseyou'redreamingandIdon'tfeelcomfortablesopleasestopit."

Too late. Pharos was too far gone.

"I won't let go of you . . ." he muttered in his sleep.

Pharos cuddled closer and he was smack right in front of Ken. Ken took a long breath and sighed. He had to admit that it was _tempting_ to return Pharos's embrace.

Ken pushed Pharos away and fortunately, he didn't try to get Ken after that. He was pretty sure that Pharos's hugs wouldn't solve his headache. Even if they can, he wouldn't dare—much less think—of doing it.

His movements might have been too loud because the doctor walked up to him and checked his state. To Ken's eyes, he was hugging Pharos, but to the doctor's eyes, Ken was resting on his side. Supernatural beings like Pharos create illusions on the real world when they interact with natural objects.

"Wakey-wakey."

Ken grumbled and sat up. Pharos desperately in his sleep tried to find something he could cuddle on. He rubbed the itchy fairy dust off of his eyes. He made it look like he has just awoken. His head still hurt and as he opened his eyes and flung his head up, he had vertigo and his headache worsened. He clutched his head, gasping for air. He could feel his eyes pop. It was a pain that he could not put into words. The doctor rubbed Ken's head to ease the pain, which made it worse.

"Are you alright?"

Ken screamed, "DO I LOOK LIKE I'M ALRIGHT, DAMNIT?!"

Ken's screams of desperation woke Pharos up, except that he was only visible to Minato then. The doctor ran across the room in search of an anti-headache fluid, while guessing what could be wrong with Ken according to his migraine. He never had cases this bad. The least he could assume was that Ken had sleep deprivation, which he was ninety-nine percent sure that it wasn't the case.

Pharos watched Ken in torment. "No no no no."

Pharos suddenly felt light. His instincts told him to lock his eyes on Ken's struggling heart. Only visible to Pharos's eyes, the glowing glass that formed around Ken's heart broke and the pieces gathered to form a new shape. Flat and rectangular, like a card. The luminescence transformed to a blue mist and unveiled the figure. Pharos gaped at the figure, which took the form of a card, in shock. It showed a scale made of a double-edged sword with red background at the left half and white at the right half. The Roman numeral of eight was at the bottom of the card.

"The Justice Arcana," Pharos mumbled. He had a sudden interest to know why he was part of the Justice Arcana. Before he could reach for the card, the blue mist turned purple. Ken screamed more, as if he was being exorcised.

The mist penetrated itself inside the card and connected itself to Ken. Darkness consumed Ken's heart and he stopped struggling. Ken was knocked unconscious, yet another time. Pharos snatched the card. The front of the card was left untouched, as if nothing really happened. But the back of the card felt warm. No, not warm— _infernal_. Dangerously infernal. Pharos was afraid to flip it, but the card demanded itself flipped.

Pharos has never seen this before.

The sword was now held by a person who was stabbing another person. The other person also had a sword but wasn't able to do anything. There were chains that choked the pair. The background was red. Only red.

"What are you?" asked Pharos.

The card didn't answer. It just went back inside Ken's soul. He woke up, unfazed by what just occurred seconds ago. The doctor was struck with fear and panic by what just happened. Minato still remained calm as ever. He grabbed the collar of the doctor and dragged him outside.

"W-what are you doing? I have to attend to the child!" the doctor shouted.

"The kid and I . . ." Minato glanced back at Ken, but really, he meant he and Pharos had something to discuss. "We have something to discuss. We would appreciate it if you wouldn't eavesdrop."

Before the doctor could protest, he thought that he needed a break. He sighed and said that he was going to report what happened to Gekkoukan High and Gekkoukan Elementary about the event that took place.

"Thank you, Doctor . . ." Minato trailed off due to not knowing the doctor's name.

"Doctor Edogawa." The doctor quickly scampered away.

After locking the door and pulling the little curtain for the glass down for extra privacy, he heard Ken say something.

"Come again?"

"W-where's Pharos?" he asked with genuine concern. He fiddled with his fingers nervously.

"Uh . . ."

Minato stared right down at Pharos. Minato didn't know what the hell was going on. Pharos repeated what he did at the train reluctantly. He thought that it may end up to another episode, but he realized that the séance he did a while ago wasn't the cause.

One second, Pharos wasn't there, then at the other second, he was their right in front of Ken's eyes. Ken didn't know how he can do that. Pharos was a mystery to him, and he thought that he should keep it like that . . . until a certain time.

Pharos had big worried eyes right down at Ken. He just couldn't simply believe at what happened. But then again, he was a ghostly being. Anything could be possible.

Ken sensed pity and worry from Pharos. And he hated those more than anything else. He lived for two years under those emotions. Ironically, he was worried about the disappearance of Pharos.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he questioned with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Minato sensed something. He felt that Pharos was wielding the same aura when they first met: ghostly, mysterious, cold in a bad way, dark.

"You . . ." Pharos mumbled with shakiness. "Why are you filled with so much hatred?"

Pharos's eyes were glowing in an intense metallic blue. He stared right down at Ken's soul—literally. His soul was having some _irregularities_.

For a moment, Ken felt breathless, as if someone was strangling him. It was for a short second, but the pain was excruciating. He flinched when the pain subsided. He sighed with relief, but before he could answer, he felt a cold presence behind him.

"Yes, Ken Amada, why _are_ you filled with hatred?"

An invisible being, invisible to Pharos even, appeared behind Ken. It was made of pure chaos and hate. The being was rooted on Ken's soul. Ken looked behind him and saw black inferno shaped exactly like he was with red eyes. His eyes contracted and got bloodshot.

The shadow chuckled and smiled evilly.

"I'll leave that answer to you, my puppet. For now, _you're mine_."

It transformed to a purple smoke and entered Ken's soul through his mouth. Ken coughed violently. Minato didn't bother with Ken. Pharos was the one who was supposed to handle this.

"Well, answer me. Why are you filled with loathing?"

As the smoke resided inside Ken, Pharos noticed Ken's left eye change in color, from hazel to crimson. Pharos didn't want to mention that. He wanted answers from Ken. Ken bit his lip so hard that droplets of blood trailed.

Ken answered, in a voice that would send daggers to the people who he is speaking to, "I have to find him. I have to find the one who killed Mom."

When he heard those words, Minato had a quick flashback of his mother. He remained unfazed outside.

* * *

 _"_ _Come on, Minato! You know better than hitting Kotutsa in the face!"_

 _His mother was scolding him, arms folded. She was wearing a dress with a cooking apron. She got furious at Minato when she heard from school that he got in a fight._

 _"_ _But Mom, he stole my pen!"_

 _"_ _Is that a valid reason to hit him?! My father and I didn't raise you as a fighter, Minato."_

 _Minato stomped his foot on the wooden floor and marched to his room. He knew that his mother was going to command that anyway._

 _Before he slammed the door, he screamed, "I HATE SCHOOL! I HATE KOTUTSA!_ I HATE YOU!""

* * *

He knew hate wasn't the best thing to feel. But that's what he felt every day. He hated the world.

Unexpectedly, Pharos softened at Ken and sat at Ken's left and slung his arm on his shoulder. Ken gripped on his knees tightly. Pharos was making him feel guilty.

"I don't want to see you like that, Ken."

Ken smiled guiltily and elbowed Pharos's stomach lightly. "Why are you like this to me?" Ken's voice became rather weak. "We just met today."

Minato decided to give them space by going away in a reasonable distance, enough for Pharos to have a talk with Ken without him floating around.

"I . . . I've seen people like you." Pharos had Minato in mind. "You don't have friends, do you?"

"I do have friends!" Pharos got Ken acting up. "It's just that my reputation with them kind of got tarnished when . . . Mom died."

Ken clenched his fists and said, "Ever since my mother died, I always had this parole on my back saying that I don't have parents. My dad left us when we I was young about seven years ago. He was working abroad on some trade center, I think. He was just reading some papers and then a plane crashed on the building. Almost three-thousand people died that day, including him. No-one knew about it because my dad spent almost all of his time abroad that my friends never knew him. And then, two years ago, my mom and I were walking late at night and then some weird crap happened. I was too scared to understand what was going on. Next thing I knew, a giant destroyed an entire building. I was able to run away, but my mom was too slow. She was crushed under the debris, in front of my eyes."

Ken looked at Pharos and chuckled. Pharos's expression didn't change throughout his story.

"I know. A giant? It's unbelievable, really. But it did happen. And you're proof that it existed."

Pharos pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Yeah. You're definitely outside of this plane of existence. I bet that giant must be, too."

The room fell silent as the two stared at their knees. Ken noticed that he was a few inches taller than Pharos.

"I wouldn't consider ones past if I want to be friends with someone so . . ." He tried to do another pinky swear with Ken. "Friends?" Ken accepted the offer and shook his pinky with him.

"Best friends."

* * *

 **AN: Woo! There we go.**

 **My posting pattern would be kind of irregular. I would post weekly, every Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. I have lots of school related stuff to do.**

 **Thank you to A Dog in Fox Clothing for pointing out that summary mistake! I was so hyped to post this that I didn't even check the summary, unlike my chapters. Won't happen again!**

 **As posted two chapters ago, there would be a ship and you guess. I'll eliminate for you. I don't plan a serious MinatoxYukari. I'll go along the game and Minato will be a fuckboy. But I'll put him in a more serious level.**

 **I plan a ship for Pharos. But only two can see him. One would be a fuckboy. If one is a fuckboy who targets girls, who else is left for Pharos to be shipped with?**

 **That's right.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Now if you turn to page thirty-two, you'll see rule—huh?"

Miss Toriumi was interrupted at the middle of her first-day-of-school introduction session by a light knock on the door. She glanced outside and she saw Minato Arisato, glaring blankly right back at her. She gestured the student to come inside.

"Class, we have a new student in your batch today."

Minato made his way inside, and almost every girl, including Toriumi, was already thinking of how to new student looked.

 _Oh wow, he's a cutie. Looks a bit dead inside but we'll see about that,_ Toriumi thought.

A girl swiftly snuck her phone out and texted to another girl, "oh god ill like totally bang him XD"

She texted back, "so true gurl still leaning on aki-senpai though"

Both girls giggled from across the room until the teacher made a coughing sound to shut them up. After all necessary introductions, Toriumi noticed that the door was kept open. What a way to start the year.

"Please close—"

"I still have a little visitor—"

"I'm not little . . ." said a voice from outside—Ken Amada's voice. Pharos rolled his eyes and folded his arms. _If he thinks he's little . . . oh boy, I can't wait to be in their plane of existence._

"Just come in."

Ken took a quick peek on the class from outside. He felt like thousands of eyes glared right at him with insatiable desire for cute kid videos on the Internet. All the girls thought that Ken was one cute kid. Except for Toriumi. Ken was just another pesky elementary student who she had to deal with.

"Mister Arisato, I do not think it is best for the class to have an elementary student in our class. And I am not sure if he is allowed here."

 _Whoa, a bit out of character there, Maya. You're putting your reputation as a cool teacher here at stake! Stop this bullshit at once!_

The gamer/teacher sighed. "By 'not sure,' I mean, no, it's not in the rules and regulations. He may come in. Just don't let him get the class acting up. I don't want any issues. Arisato-kun, you may sit there." She pointed at the seat next to a snoring Yukari.

A student with a blue cap and a badly shaved goatee thought, _Huh, if Yuka-tan were awake, she would mention that the seat is taken. She would even take to drastic measures to like that the seat is taken. Wait, how am I awake and she's not?! This class is boring!_ He proceeded to stuff his face on the valley of his two arms and dozed off.

"I don't really think that it's mandatory for me to introduce myself." Classic Ken. Always humble. "Plus, I wouldn't want to waste your time so just think that I do not exist."

The blue-haired teen had a sudden attack of existential crisis. For the millionth time. "Millionth" is an understatement, actually.

 _What I would do to not exist . . ._

"Please don't have one of those existential crises. You gave me migraines from all of those . . . _vile thoughts_ when you were a kid, until I learned to cope with it."

 _It's healthy._

"No, it's not."

Toriumi stopped all the chatter from the class with a single clap. Just like that.

"Alright, according to Toriumi-tradition, students must provide a small piece of information that people don't know about you at the start of the school year. After that, provide a first impression on the class. Go."

The first thing that popped in Minato's mind was, "Death is my best friend." (Which was true—poor boy just didn't know it. He just meant it in a cringy level of pure edge.)

But what he said was, "I like dogs better than girls."

His statement stirred the class, especially the girls. They were infatuated by Minato. Somehow.

"Oh. My. God," one murmured, "There are a bunch of dogs near the shrine. Wanna get rid of them?"

Another whispered, "Tonight? Okay . . ."

"But what if we give him the dogs then he would like us?"

"The Golden Retriever?"

"The Labrador?"

"The white Shiba Inu with the red eyes?"

"No, wait, there's a Siberian Husky! Those are cute."

"Yeah, let's give him that."

Some girls eyes Minato, while others eyed Ken as they both sat. Pharos gazed at the cherry blossoms outside. It was as if nature focused all of its energy and beauty on the cherry blossoms and nothing else. The almost-noon sun fluffed up the pink leaves as they wander across the blue sky, curtained with white clouds. Perfectly Rococo.

Both Ken and Minato were bored. All they heard was just Toriumi muttering muted gibberish. Ken plopped his face on the desk and dozed off, with an eventual high-pitched whistled snore. Minato's surroundings slowly started to get blurrier. The long discussion of Miss Toriumi was lullabying him to sleep. Boredom and tiredness kissed both of his eyes.

* * *

Minato woke up at the sight of Ken and Pharos squeezed in one chair. They were both thin enough to fit in one. Pharos was sleeping on Ken's left shoulder. Minato's senses told him that Pharos used his séance on Ken and had a few minutes left until Pharos disappeared physically.

 _Cute._

He walked towards Ken and slightly shoved him to awaken him.

"Mmm, Pharos, quit it. My shoulder hurts."

Drowsily, Ken pushed Pharos away. Fortunate for Pharos, he was quick to rub his sleep off and gripped Ken's right wrist as he fell on the floor. Pharos may be as light as a feather, but he was heavy enough to drag Ken with him.

Pharos hit the floor, waist-first, while Ken dropped knee-first. Pharos was lying straight on the floor and he massaged his throbbing waist.

"Oww . . . why did you have to . . ."

Pharos had a long gaze at Ken, who was on all fours and was on top of him. An unnoticed pink blush formed on Pharos's cheeks and he had a crooked smile. As for Ken, he didn't really have much of a reaction. Baffled, by their position, yes, but was he you-know-what? No. He was too sleepy to process what was going on.

The class mumbled about how Ken fell on his own. People said that he just did a push while he was asleep. The class dismissed it as "fucking adorable." Minato quickly dragged the two away and to the door.

"We're not making yaoi here."

"What's yaoi?" Ken asked.

"No."

"Okay."

Suddenly, Minato felt a slight shove. He glanced at his back and saw his classmate with a poorly shaved goatee. His bright aura told Minato that he will be annoying.

"Well, if it isn't the new guy!" He pointed at Ken, who was still dragged by Minato. Pharos was already snoring next to Ken. He had a huge energy gap. "Is that your little bro?"

"Personal space."

That pushed him a bit off-balance. He decided to introduce himself. He pointed at himself and said, "I'm Junpei Iori!"

"Not interested." _Can you go away?_

Minato continued to walk across the hallway. Ken stood up and carried Pharos. Other people saw him like he was picking up his own bag. Pharos caused a bit of an illusion to the eyes of the students and teachers. Pharos unconsciously grew a tiny, adorable smile and, as if he were awake, eagerly embraced Ken's shoulders. His hands met at Ken's chest, exactly where his beating heart would be. Pharos, on Ken's right shoulder, was so close to him. Millimeters away. A few centimeters would be fine, but those millimeters were a bit too close. But still, Ken didn't mind. Their cheeks and ears were touching every once in a while.

Back to Junpei.

"Aww . . ." He ran to the side of Minato. "Can't you at least be a positive person? Plus you are in the presence of the great Iori himself! Best rookie of the Baseball team last year! Aww yeah!"

"Please. Go. Away. Personal. Space."

Junpei raised both his hands in frustration and surrender. "All right, I got the message!" Junpei slowly walked away.

The goat muttered to himself, "Could that guy really be the one who Yukari dared to date a bunch'a girls?" He rolled his eyes. "Pfft, what a load of crap."

* * *

Minato opened the wooden doors of the dormitory. Ken dropped Pharos on a leather chair. The little ghost quickly squeezed one of the throw pillows in his sleep. If the pillows were alive, they'd suffocate. As Minato and Ken resigned on one of the couches, Mitsuru Kirijo popped up from the stairs.

"Arisato, who is the visitor you brought today? I've heard that you also brought him during class. If there were a rule regarding that, I would have to punish you justly, but since there is no rule, I wouldn't be able to pull-off an . . . _execution_."

"Execution" turned Ken's blood into ice and he hastily stood up and bowed.

"My name is Ken Amada! I am just here to stay for a while. I'll leave in an hour or so . . ."

Ken's name bounced across the walls of Mitsuru's mind. She will never— _ever_ forget that name. She never believed in destiny and miracles. This was just a coincidence. She was paralyzed by the sight of the brunette child and she couldn't inhale because of it. Ken took her by surprise.

"Uh . . . uh . . . Ken Amada . . ."

 _Don't lose character now, Kirijo! He's just a kid._

"Y-yes. It's alright. Actually . . ." Mitsuru formulated a tiny concept in her mind. She rubbed her chin between her fingers.

"What is it, Kirijo-senpai?" Pharos, who was almost in the process of waking, was soothed by the very voice of Ken and calmed down. He let out a sigh.

"Would you want to stay here for the night? We have plenty of room."

Ken's eyes sparkled and he jumped up with enthusiasm. "Oh, would I?! Yes, please!"

Ken's excitement made the most serious person in the dorm chuckle. She handed one of the keys to a room. "Here are the keys to your room. Be sure to take care of it . . ."

She added in her mind, _Because there is a possibility that Shinjiro might come back. This is something . . . The kid who . . . Deal with that later, Kirijo. You have a plan in mind. You just need a few minutes of the Dark Hour._

* * *

Minato, this time, slept with Pharos on the same bed. Why not?

Before Ken closed the door, he whispered, "Good night, Arisato-senpai . . ." He wasn't able to see Pharos anymore, but he still said, "Pharos . . . thank you. Good night." The ray of light from the lightbulb outside narrowed during the creak of the closing door and disappeared as the door was shut to a close.

Minato blinked. He felt a slow rise of nausea and blurred his eyesight. He shook himself awake and saw himself in a purple classic elevator with a giant clock, seen when one looks up. The room was filled with furniture that was covered with blue fabric sheets. There was a chair, with the back shaped like a harp. In front of that chair would be Pinocchio and your average Caucasian girl.

In a weird, formal accent, Pinocchio said, "Welcome to the Velvet Room! A place between reality and imagination. I am Igor and this is my assistant, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth bowed. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Minato had a wave of jejune. "What do you really want to tell me?"

"Ahh, an impatient one . . . well . . ." The contract that Minato signed appeared at the top of the table and it opened on its own. "We just want to tell you that since you signed this contract, you have to take responsibility for your actions, good or bad."

Elizabeth said, "Master, there has been a bit of an overtime . . ."

"Well I cannot keep you here! Go on and do you best out there, my guest! And one last thing! Be wary of the child you brought . . . Vengeance possesses his heart with an iron fist."

* * *

Ken woke up in a dream. A black environment with still air. The ground was a bit . . . _mushy_ though. The temperature was neither hot nor cold. He could feel his own heart, beating in a suspicious way. Like they weren't supposed to beat quickly when he's just standing

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

 **You're the only one here, Amada. What are you talking about?**

Ken was startled by the voice. Just as Ken turned around in an attempt to see the owner of the voice, the scene of his mother getting crushed by debris unfolded in front of his eyes. Blood splattered across the room and some hit Ken's cheek. His mother's screams of despair threw daggers on Ken's heart. Droplets of tears formed on his eyes.

"Why are you doing this?"

He sat down and made a valley with his knees. He put his head on the valley and did not look at his environments due to fear and apprehension.

 **Why? Shouldn't you know the answer yourself, Ken? What have you been doing ever since Mother died?**

Evil laughter boomed and created ripples on the floor. Ken was quietly sobbing.

"I-I have been looking for Mom's . . . killer."

 **To?**

"To . . . serve . . . justice . . ."

The voice shouted furiously, **BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT, KEN! WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SERVE TO HER KILLER?**

Ken screamed at the voice back and whimpered under the hood of his jacket on the floor. The fluid-like substance on the floor gathered to form a figure next to Ken. The figure crouched and rubbed his head.

It asked, softly, **Ken, what do you want to do to the killer?**

Ken did not answer. He refused to answer. The figure chortled quietly as if mocking Ken with his weakness.

 **You obviously want to serve vengeance. Ice-cold vengeance. An eye for an eye, remember? You want him to die. A death worse than Mother's, correct?**

Ken did not know what got to him, but he thought that it was best to nod. And he meant the nod. It was a sincere answer. And the mysterious object loved it.

 **If you want to, I'll handle things for now, while the moon is at its deadliest. I . . . no—** ** _We_** **will run free tonight.**

Ken was satisfied.

* * *

It wasn't the usual Ken who woke up in the middle of the night. It was bloodthirsty Ken. A Ken who would send shivers even to the bravest soldier of King Arthur. A Ken who wanted to send mass destruction.

A Ken who wanted vengeance.

* * *

 _Thou art I. I art thou. Thou hast been cursed with the corruption of Justice. Prepare thyself with the dooms and danger that this arcana upholds thee. Be wary. Thou hast been cursed with the Vengeance Arcana._

* * *

 **AN: I wish I could've done better. I know that this isn't exactly the output that I wanted. I promise that the other chapter will be better. Please R &R. It helps.**


	6. Chapter 6

The possessor of Ken checked out Ken's body.

"Ahh . . . I see that you kept your physique well. All those years of playing soccer is one of the factors that would help our expedition tonight. We would need tons of stamina and energy tonight. Well done, puppet. You aren't as useless as I perceived you to be."

 _Don't call me "puppet." I'm not your puppet._

"Oh but of course! We're partners anyway: Partners for life!"

 _But-_

"You just deal with it."

It hopped off of the bed and checked itself on the mirror. Ken's eyes gleamed crimson red. A smile of pure insanity reached from ear-to-ear. His eyes were so red that for a short while, it illuminated the room a hint of red.

"Since when did you ever have red eyes, Ken?" it asked, humoring Ken, "Are you sick or something?"

With a weak voice, Ken asked, _Who are you?_

The question remained unanswered.

It suddenly felt an irritating spot of heat on Ken's nape. Seconds after, it felt needles of torturing heat all over Ken's body. It growled ferociously and gritted Ken's teeth.

"How can you thrive in such attire? This is too hot!"

It quickly removed the school uniform and unzipped the half-close hoodie and threw them on the bed. It loosened the ribbon and unbuttoned the long sleeves. Air flowed inside the vest. The center of Ken's upper body was revealed. It was pretty well-built. Not ripped, but it showed signs of proper lifestyle.

"There we go. Isn't this better—"

 _WHO THE CRAP ARE YOU?_

It walked to an upper-body mirror and Ken—the original one—was reflected by the physical body. His fists were clenched that they were almost white. Ken's eyes were hazy with tears.

"It's that obvious Ken, is it not? I was summoned . . . no—born deep under the sea of your soul. A corrupted soul. I'm made of Ken Amada—therefore, I am Ken Amada—"

 _BULLSHIT! YOU'RE NOT ME!_

As soon as those words left Ken's lips, an overwhelming surge of strength channeled to his doppelganger. It was like a sudden spark of electricity ran through his veins and arteries.

"If you do not want to risk your body, then I recommend that you face the music and accept who you are and who you will be forever. It helps, welcoming me as your second face. Trust me—but in a way . . . trust yourself. You'll feel better."

 _For the last time, you aren't me . . ._ Ken said with less conviction and anger. More of surrender and defeat. Still, his defiance strengthened his second self gradually.

"I am you. Well, to at least have a bit of distinction, call me 'Kage-Ken,' alright? And please, stop denying. You'll end up hurting yourself. Do we reach an understanding?"

Ken felt inferior to Kage-Ken, so he reached a consensus with his other self. He still couldn't accept that this _corrupted being_ was him.

And with that, Kage-Ken started to satiate his thirst for blood.

"It's okay, Ken. Just let me handle this. You are so tired."

Kage-Ken treaded towards the control room, where he sensed a large aura of death. He broke in using lock-picking skills Ken learned during grade four and looked all over the room for the source. As soon as he detected the source of death, which was behind the bookshelf, he pushed whole heavy bookcase by himself and found a secret cache of specially designed weapons. Both sides of Ken were attracted to the spear, which was twice their height.

"You're such a midget. Do you plan on getting any taller?"

 _Shut up. Don't disrespect my height. You know that you are me and therefore, you are short too._

"Oh, so now you admit that we are just the same? Both of us are Kens?"

Ken was placed in a checkmate-zone there. He remained silent for a solid minute, thinking of what he just said. He _did_ just say that they were the same.

 _Still . . . we . . . you . . . I just acknowledged what you said. I didn't say I believe it . . ._

"Oh, dear, I am intrigued by your weak lying. Keep on going. It makes me stronger . . ."

 _I . . . uh . . ._

"It's still up to you."

Kage-Ken snatched the spear and ran to the window. He pushed the glass open and the breeze made its way into the room. Ken's long-sleeve shirt flew freely.

 _What are you doing?_ Kage-Ken looked at the bottom. It was a good falling distance . . .

 _Don't tell me that you're going to jump . . ._

"Ken, a wise man once said—"

 _Don't you dare do it._

"'You only live once.'"

From that, Kage-Ken stood at the very edge and leapt. He felt as if the entire scene was in slow motion. The fall felt endless—and fun. As the cold night air filled his lungs, he gripped the spear tightly and did a frontflip. He cocked the spear back and impaled the tree he was about to crash into. The tree stopped his fall. Kage-Ken made a huge wound on the tree. He pulled the spear out and walked to the road.

"That was fun, wasn't it?"

Original Ken was quaking inside with terror.

 _I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you Ihate you Ihate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you._

Kage-Ken shrugged. "I get that a lot." He looked high up on the starry sky. The moon was bright and almost full.

"It's almost time. Are you ready to go on a . . . _killing spree_?"

Kage-Ken received no reply. Just the whisper of the night wind and just the calm breathing of Kage-Ken.

Even though he was a bit too intimidating and deadly to Ken, Kage-Ken would admit that he cared deeply about Ken's welfare—in a way that only he understood. He thought that the only to take care of Ken and fulfill his wishes was that he had to kill. And kill. And simply kill. To put it in a way, he wanted Ken to relinquish control and submit to Kage-Ken so Ken would be satiated with his desires. They were two sides of the same coin—one was there for two years, waiting for this moment, while the other-the original-suffered life due to discrimination and bullying from other people. They never knew the feeling of losing their parents . . .

"Look, Ken . . ."

 _10 . . ._

"It's not that you're a wimp or anything."

 _20 . . ._

"I'm just here to help you out. You know, help you get what you want."

 _30 . . ._

"I mean you no harm, really."

 _40 . . ._

 _It's almost midnight . . . You don't want to stay up this late._

"Oh, but I have to. I'm here to help you reach your maximum potential."

 _And how would you be able to do that?_

Kage-Ken summoned all of his might and collected himself. Ken was not aware of what he was about to do. He also did not know how to do this; he just thought of a process at the moment. He kept the spear upright on the ground and closed his eyes. Purple mist surrounded him.

"How?"

 _56_

"Per . . ."

 _57_

"S . . ."

 _58_

"On . . ."

 _59_

"A . . ."

 _0:00_

"Nemesis!"

A card illuminated forth from his chest and floated in front of him. It flashed most of his surroundings with a blinding light that it looked like high noon. Kage-Ken glared at the card with ferocity and slashed his spear at the card, without relent. It shattered as if it were made of glass.

His power collected right behind him and a _thing_ was made out of thin air. As everything darkened, Kage-Ken witnessed the presence of a magical being, called Nemesis. It was a monster with a wide head and orange eyes and a wacky smile and arms were connected to it. Its neck was connected to a chest that was slightly larger than the head and a pair of slender legs was connected to the chest. There was a black and blue wheel adorned with slight gold spinning at the groin area and to a holder at the top of its head. Ken couldn't hold his breath in.

Except there were black sludge monsters everywhere, looking murderous with their red eyes. But Kage-Ken's eyes were more vicious and crimson. He collected a bit of energy and smashed the spear on the ground.

"Mahama!"

More blinding light. The screams of the monsters rang in his ears. When the light faded, there were still a bunch of monsters surrounding him.

 _What the fuck are those!_

"Shadows! They kill anyone aren't inside coffins during this hour!"

 _Then what's that thing you summoned?!_

"It's a 'Persona!' I'll explain the details later!"

Kage-Ken charged at the nearest shadow and slashed at it. Nemesis was showing signs of cracking and beneath those crack were black lights emitting.

"I'm not done yet!"

The Justice card materialized between his index and middle fingers. He flipped it over and there it was:

The Vengeance arcana.

"Vidar!"

Nemesis imploded and a black blaze burst. In replacement of Nemesis, a humanoid was summoned. It was set ablaze with the black flames. It wore a winged helmet and most of its attire was made a gray fur, from a wolf. Its left hand was literally the head of a wolf. It replaced a normal hand and looked like a parasite. It howled at the shadows ferociously. At its right hand was a spear made of a sharp diamond head and the rest of it was made of an alloy of copper, nickel, silver, gold, and more conductive metals.

Kage-Ken smiled a crazy smile speared the sky. All of his energy and Ken's were transferred to Vidar, the Norse god of vengeance.

"Ken, listen to me! This is my power that I shall bestow upon you! It is a god compared to your puny Nemesis! Vidar, the Norse god of vengeance, son of Odin and Grid, slayer of the beast Fenrir! He shall avenge Odin once he is consumed alive by the beastly son of Loki! Bow down before him or you shadows die!"

Some shadows withdrew from the immense power, but some charged at the human.

"So that is the game you're going to play? A pity . . . Vidar! Set the world ablaze as you destroy these vile creatures, like you destroyed Fenrir! Show no mercy and burn them with an infinite inferno! Infinite Ragnarok!"

All the flames that covered Vidar's body were collected and formed a black orb of pure chaos hellish fire. It was crushed and fireballs blew up from Vidar's hand. The balls hit all of the shadows. As they struggled in pain, as if it weren't enough, the flames exploded and columns of fire rocketed to the sky, exterminating all of the shadows in range.

Ken was astounded by this power. It's like a superpower but even better. It was mass destruction. With this power, he could exterminate his target and exact vengeance.

Vidar dissolved into gleams of black particles. Kage-Ken finally handed Ken control again, but he instantly felt fatigued. He dropped to one knee, with his spear supporting him. A bit of blood dropped from his mouth and splattered on the ground. His vision blurred. He sensed one last shadow which was slowly treading towards him. He trudged towards it and gave a final blunt blow using the butt of the spear. He desperately needed a long rest.

 ** _Goddamn it. If you fall now, this would be the third time you would knock yourself unconscious in the span of twenty-four hours._**

And as the words of Kage-Ken were released, Ken collapsed on the cold asphalt, senseless, as the green transformed to an intense blue.

* * *

 **AN: Oh my god, finally. After a ton of projects, I found the time to write and now you have this! Huzzah for me!**

 **I had a ton of projects at school so I didn't have time to do this. But with the free time I had, while I was away from home, I made the next chapter, since the original document is saved in my laptop and I wrote the next chapter on my phone. I was away a lot.**

 **Next chapter is almost done so expect it probably three or four days from now. It's a Valentine special. That's it.**

 **Please R &R! I appreciate support and criticisms.**


	7. Chapter 7

With an aching head and a discontent face and with the underlying necessity to sleep, Minato sipped his cold chocolate morning drink with a hint of mint. He relished dark chocolate with mint. Fortunate for him, Mitsuru had a stash of all sorts of spices for her tea. Mimato was brave enough to ask her. Even her closest friends were intimidated to ask something from her.

Although, that morning, Mitsuru possessed a humble face. It wasn't usual for her to do that. She's mever humble. Minato formed a quiet assumption that something was bothering her.

Pharos felt a sinking feeling in his gut as soon as Ken tramped heavily on the stairs. He had deep eye-bags and an annoyed expression. His eyebrows were closely knot together that they almost looked like a unibrow. He coughed painfully as he took a seat on one of the chairs in the dining room. Pharos used his séance to clarify his worries.

"Someone looks like they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. What happened to you?"

Ken replied in a rabid tone, "I just didn't get some sleep last night. Just leave me be, Pharos. You wouldn't want to be around me when I didn't get my sleep."

That clarified his worries. He took a seat next to Ken's right and rested his head on Ken's shoulder. He wasn't able to do that without feeling cozy. For Ken, it seemed like his problems (mostly involving his second ego) melted away when he felt contact from Pharos. But they all hit him back like a boomerang almost instantly.

"Don't be such whiny baby and tell me what's up."

"Just . . . don't mind me. It's not much to fret about."

"But it is something to fret about!"

"I SAID—"

 _ **Go on. Go for it.**_

Kage-Ken's voice rang creepily in Ken's head. He felt as if lots of his power were drained from him. He fueled his anger on his second ego and he started seeing spots because of it. He kept his composure together. Pharos seemed scared.

"I . . ." Ken couldn't find the right words to say to Pharos. "Just . . . I'm sorry. Forgive me."

"You . . . Yeah. I'm sorry too. You probably just want some time alone." Pharos stood up and started to walk towards Minato. "I'll be with Minato if you need me."

"Actually-" Ken grabbed the white wrist of Pharos and pulled him close, "-I don't want to be alone. Stay with me . . . Please?"

Pharos felt the ghostly blood and heat coursing to his cheeks and ears. Ken wanted him. Ken wanted his company.

Just then, Pharos felt an electric wave as soon as Ken made contact with him. Ken felt it too, but Pharos's shock was more excruciating. Excruciating in a positive way. It was like one of those pains in which one needs to keep their senses going. Both of them flinched

Ken asked, "What was that?"

"Beats me."

Minato walked to them, blank as ever.

"Ken, have you seen Pharos?"

"Huh?" He pointed at Pharos. "He's right over here."

Minato looked at Ken with dead eyes for a whole minute. He looked like wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut and left Ken.

"I'll ride the train to school. Mitsuru-senpai said that you shouldn't go to school for today."

"Uh . . . Okay. Are we the only ones in the dorm right now?"

"Yeah. She left one-hundred thousand Yen inside one of the flower vases on the counter."

Minato left without any word. Ken faced Pharos with a questioning look.

"What was that about?" Ken didn't get an answer.

Ken was attracted by the canned coffee beverages in the drink machine that he glanced by upstairs.

"I just hope they have black cof—whoa!"

As he got to the third step, he felt a quick pull from where Pharos sat. Pharos was pulled to Ken too except he was taken too much by surprise that he almost stumbled. Fortunately, Ken caught him before his face was planted on the floor.

"Careful . . ."

Ken helped him up. He sighed. "Not you too . . ."

"What do you mean?"

Pharos didn't like the idea of his existence being transferred from Minato to Ken. He felt like he was going to be a burden. But then he thought that maybe even if he were a burden, Ken wouldn't care. After all, Ken did promise to be a good friend to Pharos.

Plus, it's Ken.

Pharos theorized that the shock they felt was a leap to connect to another person. There was a different feel about it. He felt more powerful when he was with Minato. With Ken—not so much. He felt like he could fade away at any moment.

Ken didn't want to handle any supernatural discussion. He changed the topic.

"Well . . . We have loads of Yen . . . Do you want to go somewhere?"

"I guess so. But I don't know much of this place yet, so it's your choice."

Anywhere was fine for Pharos. He just wanted to talk to Ken about a specific matter that bothered him. A matter that rose up last night. Exactly minutes after midnight.

"I do want some coffee . . ." Ken rubbed his chin and then snapped his fingers. "Oh, there's this café in Paulownia Mall! I haven't tried it there yet, but I heard that it's awesome!"

Pharos coughed and whispered, "Can I just ride you, instead?"

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

* * *

It was 10 in the morning. Ken and Pharos arrived at Paulownia Mall. Ken was in his soccer jersey. His number is 8. Pharos was wearing the same thing as Ken. Ken lent him an extra jersey because it bothered him that Pharos didn't have any other type of clothing. Pharos was so touched by Ken. He even asked for Ken to sign it.

"Really? I'm not that famous and good at it yet . . . I mean I failed tryouts when I was in grades four and five; I just got lucky this year."

"Luck has nothing to do with stuff you are passionate about. It's all in your skill. And just because you didn't get in the team for two years doesn't mean you're bad at it. I swear—it's just you affected by low self-esteem."

Ken blushed by the fact that someone complimented him that he's a good soccer player. "You haven't even seen me play yet. Why would you want me to sign it?"

Pharos replied, "So when I become human and enter your physical plane, and you're a super good soccer player, I can tell them that I am your first and biggest fan."

Both of them asked a waitress where they could sit. Yes, both of them. The illusion from the mental/spiritual plane allowed Pharos to take form of a human. He was still a spirit. He couldn't explain much about the illusion, but what he theorized was that since he was in a place without any restrictions, he was able to take a sort-of physical form.

It hurt his head thinking about it, so he just went with the flow.

"You can sit over there, sirs." She pointed at a semi-dim-semi-bright corner. It had a cream incomplete circular couch with a mahogany table at the center. The Chaggal was full. It was perfect, for Pharos. A moderate amount of secrecy, with some softness, and intimacy. Just what he needed . . . for two reasons. One, so that he could obtain a sense of intensity as he interrogates Ken. Second, it was for the sake of being close.

Ken ordered black pheromone coffee. Pharos ordered iced chamomile milk tea with pearls. Ken took note that Pharos adored tea. He figured that he could get some when he would pass by a supermarket sometime.

As they waited for their orders, Pharos initiated the conversation.

"I watched you . . . Last night." Ken held his breath for a moment. He realized that he was in front of the dorm when he fought. Damn Kage-Ken. "You were destroying all of those shadows. It was a scary scenery. Black flames were everywhere. You looked so corrupted."

"But that wasn't—"

Pharos was quick to chop him off. "It was you, Ken. I know it's a just a second ego based from . . . hazy memories. That second ego is still you. It's a bit confusing to explain and I might jumble things up but . . . it really was you, but it wasn't a choice that you made."

"It wasn't me! It was my—"

"Your shadow version of yourself, yes. The way things are now . . . You have to keep him under control. There's only one way you can do so."

"I-I . . . But why do I have to do so?"

"It's beneficial for both of you if you do, Ken. That's not a simple shadow you possess, Ken. It's stronger than others. It's the other side of your arcana. You're Justice, and he's Vengeance. There's a similarity between those two words, but the roots are different. Since he's the other side of your arcana, I can't guarantee you that he would just go away like that and award you a persona. He'll stick around with you . . ."

"Until when?"

Pharos shrugged. The waitress came back with their orders. Ken's coffee was steaming hot. Pharos had a bit of trouble in penetrating the straw through the plastic cover of his drink, so Ken helped him out. Pharos sipped.

"I . . . Days, months, years . . . probably even for a lifetime. Even after you accepted that he is you . . . he might not go away. He's stronger than you think. Acceptance will make your life easier though. He might get you in trouble, sometimes but—"

"Are you implying—" Ken's eyes changed to red. "I'm not best for Ken?" He glared at Pharos with steel, angry eyes. Pharos applied what he had learned from Minato by looking back at him with a nonchalant expression.

"You were putting him in grave danger with your reckless rampage. You sapped almost all of his psyche energy because of last night. If you used any more of his power, he could've fallen to a coma—or even worse. So, in a way, yes—I am implying that you aren't the best person to take care of Ken."

Pharos wondered if he could just fall asleep right there. The tea was quick to take effect. It seemed like Kage-Ken was channeling his persona because the coffee was starting to boil.

"What if I already finished off my mother's persecutor?" A quick twitch on his forehead and a rapid flush of brown on his right eye. "What if I want to accept him that I am him and he is me?"

"My answers for both questions are 'I'm not sure.' If you finished off your mother's killer, you should've known. I repeat—I can't assure you if he's gonna go away like that. He's strong. And by the time he would fade away . . ." Ken grinned weakly. "By the time he goes away, you two would've been the best of friends that no-one could even distinguish you two. You'll learn to live together in one vessel, Ken. But as I said, I have a little to no memory about your case."

Red. "But I don't want to go away . . ."

Brown. "You could potentially harm me."

Red. "Don't you want to avenge Mom?"

Brown. "Yes, but not in a way that could harm me."

Red. "There's no other way."

Brown. ". . ."

Pharos held his hand. Tight. "Just promise me something." He nodded. "It's almost a full moon. You're at your strongest at those times; you know that. Don't go out on a rampage. For my sake—and also his."

Kage-Ken twisted his hand out of Pharos's clutch, weirdly feeling hot. "What gives you the right to appoint me with something like that?"

"I have no right—I know. But please, this is just a request. You're the stronger one. Use your power wisely. Using up most of your other ego's psyche energy can finish both of you off."

Kage-Ken remained silent. He contemplated about what Pharos had said. He wasn't aware that he almost sacrificed Ken the night before. He felt more alive than ever. Except he was too blind to see that Ken wasn't as invigorated as he was. He did use a small amount of his arcana's energy as a opposed to the energy he used from Ken. He nodded.

"Good, you understand. Now buy me that yellow scarf I saw. It looks good."

* * *

 **AN: And there we go. I was on a writing streak on this. Please R &R. I appreciate it. Next chapter is already on its way. Question: Should I title the chapters?**


	8. Chapter 8

A full moon? Perhaps. It was bigger than ever. A supermoon. Not officially, at least. It was just bigger than what some people had seen.

Pharos realized Ken wasn't capable of supporting his ghostly existence, so he jumped back to Minato, who was glad. Secretly. Why would Minato show his feelings to the world? Feelings were useless to the point where he wished he threw them to a dump and forget about them forever. But that wasn't the case. He's human. Humans permanently have emotions, whether they like it or not.

Both the chairman had asked Ken and Minato to stay with them, for a purpose to be revealed when time bore its fruits. Ken accepted the offer. He loathed his aunt more than anything in the world. Fortunately, his aunt agreed because Mitsuru threw in the offer that she would pay for Ken's studies, daily necessities, miscellaneous purchases, and luxuries. Basically everything that Ken wanted was immediately his—as long as A) He studied well. B) Stayed with them for whatever purpose they have for him. Ken already knew why they asked him to join. Implying from what Pharos had said, they were active people during the Dark Hour and that they wish to eradicate the so-called shadows. He had explained to them that he already knew.

Mitsuru sighed. "Tres bien, then, Amada. I don't know where you got that information but—"

"I told him that," interrupted a white-haired teenager. According to school rumors, he was Akihiko Sanada.

He didn't really tell Ken. He just didn't want Ken to face a potential execution.

Ken silently marveled at his presence. He was in the presence of a sophisticated lady who never allowed a rapier to touch her and also one of the best boxers in Japan who never lost. Rumor has it that ten of his matches were one with just one single hook thrown. The entire match. One hook. Over. Ken wished he was as masterful as they were at his zone of athletic interest. He wondered the feeling of being a forward. A midfielder wasn't enough.

Minato, being the lifeless person he was, didn't suspect a thing why they wanted him to stay. It was an easy offer to get a roof on top of his head without dorm expenses.

Pharos felt like he could séance easier. His séances lasted for about two hours. It took him a whole hour to regain his energy. Ever since Ken bought that yellow scarf with a black outline, he never took it off—even if it was hot in spring.

"Let me just wash it . . ." Minato grabbed for the scarf. Pharos, who felt significantly stronger because in a few hours, it would be a full moon, pushed Minato away with unbelievable force for a kid with his lack of muscle.

"It's mine and only mine. Touch it and you're dead to me."

"Okay."

* * *

Going back, it was a full moon. And Yukari's leg was bleeding. The moon was gigantic. Ken was ahead of them by a mile.

"Can't you guys run any faster?!"

"You're not the one dragging someone and with a bleeding thigh!"

"I'm not the one with the long legs, though! Let's go!"

The three of them burst through the door on the roof, out of breath. Pharos glared at the green moon. He felt power channeling to him.

A shadow with multiple arms jumped on the roof. It revealed a threatening set of swords. They were twice the size of an average human.

 ** _Goddamn it, Ken—we have to fight!_**

 _We promised to Pharos! You promised to Pharos!_

 ** _Who gives a shit? You're going to die if you don't—_**

Yukari was thrown away to the side of the roof, leaving her gun in Minato's hands. Pharos eyed the evoker. It was calling Minato. He was hyperventilating. Pharos wanted him to stop and retaliate.

"It's okay. Just point the gun at your head and let everything flow. It's gonna be all right, Minato."

"But what if . . ."

"You're not going to die, Minato! You have the potential. Aren't you getting that feeling? The feeling that you have to shoot? Nothing happens if you don't take risks."

Minato pointed the gun at his head, involuntarily. "Just . . . retaliate?"

"Yes."

A pull of the trigger.

 _Bang!_

After the shot, a noise made by breaking glass was heard. Minato was shrouded with a blue mist. A mechanical being formed behind him. It had silver hair that reached to its shoulder, a red headband and red scarf. A speaker replaced its abdomen. Its teal slender body was connected with white robotic arms and legs. Its head was a dark gray with red eyes. It had a pearl-white lyre at its back. It emitted a strange buzz to Pharos.

"Thou art I... And I am thou... From the sea of thy soul I cometh... I am Orpheus, master of strings..."

As soon as Orpheus chanted that, random bursts of orange flames damaged the gigantic shadow.

 ** _The fire . . . it rivals Vidar's. But it's just a simple succession of Agi . . . Vidar is already at Ragnarok . . ._**

"What are you talking about?!" Ken ran to Yukari. "Now's not the time to think about that!" He pulled out the evoker Mitsuru provided him. Nemesis came forth from Ken's soul. "Diarama!"

 ** _Summon Vidar. Just once._**

"I'm in the middle of using my persona right now! We also promised!"

Minato was standing still. Pharos wanted the evoker. Orpheus was already resorting to physical attacks, due to the lack of stored magic. It took a toll on Minato. Pharos knew there was one way to help Minato.

"Shoot me."

Minato glared at Pharos with a blank expression—but he was genuinely shocked. Pharos begged to do it. Minato slowly complied.

"How does this work?"

"Just do it."

Black liquid oozed out of the supposed bullet hole on Pharos's skull. It engulfed him, inside and out. His metallic eyes turned to a hollow black darkness. The glass the shattered from it formed a monstrous exoskull with sharp teeth. The ooze enveloped his body to form a long navy blue coat with red outlines that fell to his ankles. His legs were covered by a white fabric and his sandals were morphed into golden heels, which pained Pharos. From his elbows, the same white fabric covered his arm. Eight five-sided coffin covers with angels as designs floated and were bound by chains on his shoulders. A belt was strapped on his waist with a round golden buckle and on the side was a katana with teeth after the hilt. The scabbard was made of iron with gold at its tip. Pharos grew significantly taller that he was big enough to carry Minato in his arms. Energy swelled and overflowed.

"This power . . . it's too much."

He showed his sword to the shadow. It whimpered around the field. Before he was able to charge at the amalgamation of arms, Orpheus flew front of him and strummed his lyre. Pharos couldn't move after that.

"What are you . . ." He glanced at Minato. He was on his knees, screaming from the pain. "Orpheus, what are you doing?! Let me go!"

It started to chant in Latin with its robotic voice.

"Et mortuus est in morte. Sed esse Dei."

With a faint understanding of Ancient Latin, Pharos exclaimed, "I do not want to do whatever crap you want me to do! We will not form Messiah!" Recklessly, he pushed his thumbs on Orpheus's eyes. More screams.

"I'm sorry, Minato, but I have to do this."

With his strength, he ripped Orpheus's head into two and sliced-and-diced his body in a second. Metal scraps and debris rained on the roof. He proceeded to wreak havoc on the shadow until only part of an arm was left. He crushed it and it turned to shadow juice.

In a second, all his power left him and he was back into his tiny form he had always assumed. Flames were everywhere. It was an imitation of the catastrophe that Ken caused. In the middle of the arson was Minato, limp and unconscious. Ken was already attempting to use healing spells on him but they didn't work. Even Recarm didn't work.

"We have to get Minato-senpai and Yukari-senpai to a hospital."

Mitsuru and Akihiko burst to the roof. She summoned her persona, Penthesilea and created a sheet of ice that expended through the whole roof.

"Amada, I would appreciate the use of Agi spells to extinguish to fire. Akihiko, prepare my motorcycle. You know where the keys are."

Akihiko obliged and ran to get her keys. Ken was hesitating. He didn't want Kage-Ken to go on a rampage.

 ** _Oh please, I know my limits._**

 _Says the guy who can't stop begging me to release another reckless attack. Just please, do me a favor._

 ** _Fine. You owe me._**

 _And what do I owe you?_

 ** _A hundred tokens from the arcade at the mall and two ramen bowls tomorrow. We won't study tomorrow and we'll be watching cat videos and we'll binge Phoenix Featherman. And I have your body all to myself._**

 _That's what she said._

 ** _Shut up. Just agree with me._**

 _Fine. We probably don't even have the time to do those tomorrow._

 ** _I love you so much, me._**

 _Narcissist._

 ** _So you agree that you are I and I am you?_**

No answer. Ken just nodded in his mindscape.

 _ **You finally understand.**_

 _I still can't believe that I have a childish side of me who destroys everything in his way._

 ** _Don't care. I still love you._**

Vidar used weak flames to melt the ice. The artificial rain extinguished the fire in an instant. Mitsuru checked the heartbeat of Minato and Yukari.

"Arisato's heartbeat is weak. Yukari's is normal. He used his psyche energy too much." She eyed Ken. "In addition to that, the second persona I sensed destroyed Orpheus, damaging him badly. In his condition, it's assumable that he will fall into a short coma. It would last probably a week. A week's too long. He might have to catch up with his studies when he wakes up."

"How do you know all of this, Kirijo-senpai?"

Mitsuru took a few seconds to answer. Her eyes rolled to the left.

"Experience."

She received a text message from Akihiko, telling her that they can go already. "Amada, use your persona to carry them. While you're at it, I have a short conversation with the chairman that I have to attend to. I'll catch up to you in a short while."

Both of them ran to their respective destinations. Ken saw Akihiko on a motorcycle with a side seat.

"Figured it would be hard to bring knocked-out teens behind me while I drive. Put them on the side. You'll ride behind me."

Ken nodded. Vidar set the two together on one seat and dissolved in dark light. He sat behind Akihiko and held his abdomen, to the point where he seemed like he was holding on for dear life. He was scared of riding motorcycles.

"Whoa, we're not even speeding away on the streets yet."

 ** _Pussy._**

 _No, I'm not._

"Pussy," Pharos teased.

* * *

It was a normal day and it was afternoon. Both Pharos and Ken survived the first week of high school. Pharos was never good at introductions, so Ken had to fill up for him.

"Come on; you've been human for a few years already. You gotta learn how to befriend people."

"Easy for you to say. You're a cool kid. It's easy for you to make friends."

"Who cares? You're my bestest friend and that's the only thing that matters. Even if you aren't a so-called cool kid. I'll be here for you _always,_ even if I'm cool kid or not."

Pharos smiled faintly and punched Ken in the arm.

"That's a nice statement for you to say so you could turn away from the topic. We were talking about how it was easy for you to make friends, remember?"

Ken slung his arm on Pharos's shoulders and gave him a side-hug, which made a few stalking fangirls jealous. They wished they were that close to Amada. He was a few inches taller than Pharos, making it easy for him to wrap his arms around him. Pharos was discouraged. They were at the same height one time. Ken just had a better growth spurt than Pharos.

"I'll buy you chamomile at Chagall, okay? A celebration for surviving the first week of high school." Ken noticed that Pharos was wearing his yellow scarf he gave as a gift when he got ten-thousand Yen from Mitsuru. He blew a huge nine-thousand on that one scarf. It still made him happy that Pharos was happy.

"Isn't your scarf growing a bit old on you? I could buy you a new one if you want . . ."

Pharos met Ken's eyes. "Are you saying that I don't look good wearing this?"

"No, no." Ken chuckled and ruffled Pharos's curly hair. "It still looks good on you, but it's just _that_ old. Plus . . ." Ken released Pharos from his arm and carried his best friend's folio. He took an interest on the ground with somber eyes. "It reminds me of Ryoji and . . . you know who."

Pharos guessed that Ryoji was some random person. He wondered who the latter was though.

Ken stared at Pharos with disappointed eyes.

"You don't remember? We were just talking about him yesterday."

"Sorry, I just _can't_ remember, Ken. My must've been stuffed with all of those rules they shoved us."

Ken sighed.

"You really don't remember Minato Arisato?"

Pharos took a few seconds to respond with a slight nod. "Yeah, I know him. Our life forces were joined back then. But what about him?"

"Pharos . . . he's been dead since—"

* * *

Pharos jolted awake, panting.


	9. Chapter 9

As Pharos woke up, he immediately checked if Minato were alive. He realized that since he was there, Minato can't be dead. Pharos sighed.

"It's been three days already. How long are you going to keep me waiting?"

It was the dead of night, just a bit after the Dark Hour. He caught Ken snoring on the hospital floor, with a polka dotted blue-and-orange futon wrapped around him. His arms were sticking out. Since his phone was turned on with Phoenix Featherman showing, Ken must've spent the night watching. He hopped off the bed. He wanted to tell Ken about his dream.

Pharos hopped off the bed and used a weak séance on Ken. He didn't feel like using his powers after he just awoke. But he was so rattled about what happened that he had to tell.

"Ken, I had a dream."

Ken rolled away and mumbled, "Ken is asleep." He possessed a mean and grumpy voice. Pharos assumed it was Kage-Ken.

"Shouldn't both sides of you be awake when one is awake?"

"False. Apparently, the Nemesis-wielder sleeps soundly. Plus, he drank two glasses of milk before he slept." Kage-Ken broke free from the wrap. It spread across the floor. He was wearing cream pajamas. "God, my tummy hurts. Isn't he aware that we're lactose intolerant?"

"That doesn't matter. I need someone to talk to."

Kage-Ken chuckled. "Good luck finding one. I need rest."

Still, there was an overwhelming need for the shadow side of Ken to listen to Pharos. Stupid normal Ken side, influencing his actions and whatnot. He made a sly excuse to listen.

"But I can't sleep with this aching stomach. Listening to your blabber might cure me and lull me to sleep." He scratched his hair and touched the floor. "Hey, the floor's cold. You might want to . . . sit on the futon with me." The recently awoken child realized what he said and made a back-up choice. "Or you can just sit on the hospital bed—I don't care which you pick."

Too late.

Before he could even protest, Pharos was already next to him in an intimate level. Probably more intimate than any other person would've wanted. Kage-Ken would've told him to move away a few inches, but the consciousness of Ken was already awake.

 _Listen. To. Pharos._

 ** _You're not the boss of me._** **I _am the boss of you, you weak human. I'm gonna have to give your body back to you._**

 _No, you're not my boss. And I want you to do this._

 ** _BUT WHY?_**

 _Because I want you to. If . . . I realize that I'm gonna have to put up with your crap until the day I die, might as well teach you how to live. You're not some privileged shadow. My body, my rules._

Kage-Ken was deeply pissed. He wasn't supposed to be commanded around like this—especially by his human side. His persona was Vidar! He was supposed to be superior to everyone else!

 ** _But I don't want to—_**

 _We'll get ramen tomorrow._

 ** _Deal._**

Before he allowed Pharos to speak, he scanned the dark room and found the chips he kept closed on the tiny Styrofoam box he brought. He opened it. A sour and salty aroma of cheese hit their noses. Crumbs fell on the futon as Kage-Ken munched on the orange goodness. Pharos was reluctant to eat, but he still got one anyway. He didn't like the saltiness that much, but he managed.

"So . . . are you gonna tell me the dream or what?"

"O-oh . . . sorry for that."

It took a few minutes and two bathroom breaks, Pharos finished the story. Two things shocked both Kens listening. The first one was that Minato died.

The second one was the fact that Ken was actually tall.

"Wait, wait, wait . . . I have to ask you . . . how tall was I? Estimate. Was I five foot nine or something? What? Tell me."

Pharos stared at Kage-Ken and Kage-Ken stared back at Pharos. It was a dark night but his red eyes glowed in a warm way. Not the combat eyes Pharos saw when Kage-Ken was destroying the shadows. Just a cozy red that provided comfort.

Pharos was jealous. He always thought his blue eyes scared off the shadows. Before he was stuck in Minato's mind, he always knew he was lonely. The other shadows never approached him. He never made any friends.

Wait . . . how did he remember that? He couldn't remember anything about his experiences before being stuck in Minato's mind. Until then.

Not that it mattered anyway. He was with Ken and Ken was with him. His shadow self at least.

He couldn't help but giggle from Kage-Ken's comment.

"What's so funny?" he asked. He didn't like it when people laughed for no reason. But Pharos's laugh made his stomachache subside.

"Huh . . . you must have Dia as a skill. My stomach's okay now."

It was until a minute before Pharos answered Ken's question.

"No, it's not really funny. But I like how you were so surprised that you were tall."

Silence reigned for a third of an hour. They did not know what else to talk about. Kage-Ken was so bored that he decided to break the silence with an offer.

"Do you . . . wanna watch _Phoenix Featherman: The Rebirth_ on my phone? It's a new movie." Pharos yawned deeply with some droplets of tears in his eyes. "Or not."

"No, I'll manage."

Halfway through the movie, after about four battles and a few questions on the movie, Kage-Ken caught Pharos snoring with his head dangling. A bit of saliva dripped.

"Eww. No-one sleeps during _Phoenix Featherman_ movies . . . It's scientifically proven . . . Oh well." Ken set Pharos down the futon and turned his phone off. He didn't think it would be comfortable for Pharos to sleep on the plastic chair near the bed.

"Might as well sleep with you."

 _Good job._

 ** _I hate you._**

 _Same._

* * *

Charge. Stab. Jump. Spin. Kick. Jump. Helicopter. Destroy.

Those words were what Ken repeated to himself as he destroyed shadows with his spear. Tiring work. But Kage-Ken's _words of inspiration_ kept him going.

 ** _You suck more than Auntie does during Tuesday nights at the bar._**

 _I thought that we'd never think about what she does._

 ** _Not my fault. The more you want to forget, the more you will not._**

He felt heavy. He was more tired than he was during soccer games. If he collected his sweat in a towel, he would've collected enough to make a lake. He had to drag his spear around when Minato and Yukari were exploring Tartarus. It even took a larger toll when he uses his personae, especially Vidar. Vidar was hard to control and Vidar required more SP than Nemesis.

Minato was basically carrying the trio. He made his eventual summons of Thanatos—or Pharos in disguise, but he still mostly used Orpheus. Mitsuru repeated her recommendations that they go back, but Minato kept pushing himself to an insane level.

A slash here. A slash there.

"Arisato, I don't sense any more shadows in that area. You should return pronto."

Mitsuru held her breath as Minato slowly walked on the path to the teleporter. The random sparks she felt in her mind popped to a firework. The new shadow presence was too strong. Blood ran down her nose. She held her head with both hands in an attempt to ease the pain. She stopped scanning the area and focused her mental abilities on communicating. The number thirteen rang in her eardrums. Thirteenth arcana.

"There is an unbelievable shadow in your area! Its arcana is Death! You have to leave immediately!"

Minato stood completely still and said, "An . . . unbelievable shadow? Death?" He gripped his sword tightly. What if he . . . what if he dealt damage to that shadow, even just a bit?

Mitsuru screamed, "No, do not engage with the shadow! You will certainly have major injuries or even worse . . ."

Ken and Yukari started to speed away towards the teleporter from the warning. They could feel the shadow itself. A vision buzzed in Yukari's eyes.

* * *

 _Black flames were everywhere. Ken's already-red eyes were crying dark blood. It trickled to his soccer shoes. He had bruises and cuts all over his face. His hair singed. The spear he used was snapped in half, stabbing the wall. He was limping towards the teleporter._

 _Minato was just as bad—or if anything, worse. Half of his face was drenched with blood. There was a terrifying wound that cut from his right bicep to his knuckles. He was holding his bent sword with his non-dominant hand. Were those . . . bullet holes on his abdomen?_

 _From that chaos, Yukari overheard Ken whisper something._

 _"Why . . . did you kill Takeba-senpai?"_

 _Yukari's heart beat as fast as the tempo of African music. She was dead? Then, she noticed that Ken was holding her left shoe. It was split open. She couldn't even shed a tear with all the fear that was bottled up in her._

 _From the corner of her eye, a shadow appeared. It was covered by a floating purple and black cloak. Chains orbited its body. Its head was covered by a white sack-like object. It looked like it was held hostage. On both hands were long shotguns that were twice the size of Ken. The one on the right vanished and the shadow choked Ken with its free hand. Blood gushed from his mouth. He started to kick._

 _"Minato! Please! Pharos! I—ugh . . ."_

 _The shadow shoved the tip of the gun on Ken's mouth. He tried to summon his persona with his willpower, but to no avail. Minato attempted to stand, but stumbled. The sword clanged on the floor. Minato pulled out his evoker and summoned Orpheus. He smashed his lyre on the shadow. Ken fell to the floor, half-dead. The shadow blasted its gun on Orpheus, destroying him and giving Minato a migraine. Minato's screams echoed across the dungeon._

 _Yukari covered her mouth and agonized over the scene. If this were how they would die . . ._

* * *

The vision shattered like glass. Yukari was almost tried to dodge the shards. She was sent back to the real world. It took her a few seconds to process what happened. She ran back and dragged Minato with her. No way were they going to die tonight.

 _I'm not going to die! I still want to know so much!_

She summoned Io to intercept the incoming shadow.

"What are you doing? I want to fight the shadow." Minato was pulling away from her. Ken helped her pull him back.

"And die on your first mission in Tartarus? What did you eat today that made you suicidal?!"

Just when they were nearing the teleporter, Death appeared by phasing through walls. It looked the same as what Yukari saw. It pulled its trigger at Minato. Fortunately, he dodged the spray of bullets.

"What was that?! Is the team alright?"

Before Minato reached for his evoker, Yukari stopped him from engaging a battle and pushed him into the teleporter. She and Ken ran afterwards, dodging the last shotgun spray.

As planned out, as soon as the exited the dungeon, Yukari's hand met Minato's face. The slap echoed across the entrance. She left a mark of her hand on his cheek.

"You were going to die! Ken was going to die! I was going to die! If I didn't pull your stupid ass out, SEES would've lost most of its members! What the hell were you thinking?!"

She looked at Mitsuru for back-up. Mitsuru understood and just gave Minato a disappointed stare. Ken was low-key listening to the conversation while brandishing his spear. Of course he didn't want to die. But Kage-Ken was begging for a fight. He compromised that they should escape and get stronger then find a chance to fight said shadow.

"Arisato, if you plan to keep that mentality in the future, then I will have to choose for a new team leader. Are we under a consensus here?"

Minato nodded.

"Good. I'll wait for you outside."

Mitsuru left, her high heels making a sound after every step. There were tiny droplets of tears on Yukari's eyes. She wiped them away. She walked out with Minato and Ken. She stared at the hand which she used to drag Minato.

"Look what you made me do. If you didn't stand there, I wouldn't have held your hand to escape. Ugh . . . dumbass."

Pharos stared at Minato, as if telling him a message. He raised an eyebrow. Pharos sighed and commanded Minato to ask for forgiveness. Minato rolled his eyes.

"Um . . . sorry."

 _REALLY?! SORRY? IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN SAY? HE'S EVEN A BIGGER DUMBASS THAN STUPEI!_

"But . . . well—if risking my life like that is what it takes for you to hold my hand, I'm taking every chance I would get."

* * *

 **AN: I AM BACK!**

 **I'm so sorry for not posting last week! First, my updated file was deleted because _someone_ made me force-shut down my laptop. Second, it was exam week. Too much stress.**

 **Anyways, hope you give me feedback! R &R and all that. This stuff's appreciated!**

 **Edit: No, I am not a shotacon. I just ship. That's it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: I am so sorry! I have just been so busy at the start of the summer. I still have lots of stuff to deal with. And I know I don't post the AN at the start of the chapter but I'm giving it a shot. Anyway, please R &R! Enjoy**

* * *

Ken decided to quit drinking milk forever. He felt as if there were millions of knives in his ass. He arrived at school with a look that promises death to whoever bothers him. The whole world was against him. In other words, he was in a bad mood.

His mood slightly changed when his two best friends took notice of him. Well, it was a different approach, really. His first best friend, Kasai, punched his head to the ground, hard. It was probably worse than all his damage last night combined. She was smoking mad. Fire seemed to revolve around her.

"KEN, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP ME WITH MY HOMEWORK TODAY IN EXCHANGE FOR WATCHING YOUR GAME THIS WEEKEND! WHERE WERE YOU?"

Red-hot temper as always. She had always been vicious since the first time they met each other.

She had blond hair that fell to her hips. She possessed hazel eyes that seemed to drill a hole to your soul when she's mad. She was pale skinned. His fists and feet looked like they were always ready for a fight. She did win twenty boxing matches and never lost . . .

His second best friend, Toshiko (Yet another female friend) helped him up. She had black hair that seemed to absorb all color. Her green eyes showed how gentle she was. Her lips were chapped because she hated drinking water for some reason.

Ken touched the bump on his forehead.

"Ow . . . couldn't you have asked Toshiko to do it? I mean, she's way smarter than me."

A jab to the nose. Ken was able to endure all of these. Nothing can hurt him! She already inflicted tons of damage to him over the years!

"It was you who promised, not her! I had to understand my homework on my own!"

Toshiko asked, "What was your homework anyway?"

"Addition of fractions!"

Ken mumbled, "That's so easy that even second grader can do it . . ."

"Don't mock me!"

Some boys around him looked at his direction. Ken wasn't known to be that social. But having two girls in his personal space made them feel . . . what was it? Oh yes, jealous. Two of the prettiest girls in the batch were hanging out with a nobody like Ken.

The two girls weren't that popular but they had astounding beauty. Ken was aware that they were pretty. Hell, he would even acknowledge it when they hang out. But he can feel that he liked older girls better. Girls who were two to four years older than he was were the ones that made him head-over-heels in love. So every time Ken says "You're pretty," to a girl his age, they take it as a friendly compliment, not a flirtatious compliment.

Along with older ladies, Ken liked calm and composed ones—Ones who were mature, like him. But he did know how to have fun, so he liked a little spiciness and adventure in the girl. He didn't go for the usual "Looks don't matter." He was an Amada! He had standards! He could settle for a girl with a little physical imperfection, but he'd take someone with looks that could kill.

He wouldn't admit it, but he would die for a woman who loved Phoenix Featherman.

His only problem was if he could find someone who likes him as much as he likes her.

* * *

Ken did not like his jejune atmosphere. It was spring, goddamn it! The class should have a noisy environment. No, everyone wanted to sleep. Of course, Ken wanted to have some shuteye but would it kill them to have some noise for a bit?

It was PE class. Their coach just came in their classroom with the proper attire, a balding head, and the desire to win.

 _Another session with The Bear. Great._

He was called _The Bear_ because firstly, he was hairy. Chewbacca hairy. Ken wanted to buy him top quality L'Oreal Paris for Christmas. He could've had the best commercial award for a whole decade. Secondly, his temper was as short. Lastly, there were speculations that he was homosexual, years and years back before he was a teacher. They were just rumors though.

The coach barked, "Alright, ladies and ladies! As promised last week, I will announce this term's sport!" He glanced at his notebook (which was given to him along the hallway—he had no idea what the sport was supposed to be) and read the sport assigned.

"Aw crap, not this sport again . . ."

 _Please, be football, please._

 ** _You know, I can't help but think of Murphy's Law._**

"Basketball."

 _Goddamn it._

* * *

After the gruesome warm-up (fifty burpees for regulars; a hundred burpees for varsity players of any sport, which made Ken's muscles feel like slime), their coach told them to have a pick-up game in the basketball gym so he can observe which player is best to try out for next year's basketball varsity team.

Unfortunately, Ken has a decent knowledge in every sport, especially in football and in basketball. His late father was a veteran who decided to quit his local team so he can work in the United States. It did not disappoint his father when Ken decided that he liked football better than basketball. It was a _kind-of legacy_ , according to his father.

 _Well, I guess we have to play._

 ** _Play well. I don't want us to look like fools on-court._**

 _Yeah-yeah . . ._

Being one of the shortest guys in the class, Ken was assigned as point guard. He would have the ball often then. He considered himself lucky.

Tip-off. His team was the first to get the ball. Ken dribbled the ball down the court.

 ** _You do remember how to play, right?_**

 _Yeah. I'm just not feeling enthusiastic right now._

 ** _Okay. I guess I have the need to guide you right now. Just do what you do in football to get past this idiot. You need some legit footwork. Or you can ask for a screen._**

 _You don't have to. I still remember what Dad taught._

Ken dribbled the ball in a fast rate to avoid getting it stolen. He called for a screen and Yukumi, one of the strongest guys, held off Akira, his matchup. It was a successful pick-and-roll so he drove to the basket. But he thought, _Why not give them more effort to catch up?_ He passed the ball to their center and rushed to the corner, asking for another screen from someone from the elbow. The center caught his play and passed the ball to Ken for a three-pointer.

 _Swish!_

The satisfying sound of a nothing-but-net echoed across the court. The squeaks of their shoes as they ran to the other side were drowned by his female classmates who were having their free time at the sideline. They fangirled over a single shot from Ken.

"Amada-kun is so amazing!"

After several more successful offensive plays, his whole class was cheering for him. The cheers were music to his ears. He was beginning to fire up.

Ken sighed. He didn't get this much recognition in soccer. He's just a midfielder, that's why.

 _God, why did I like soccer in the first place . . .? I could be a star in basketball._

His question angered Kage-Ken. Why did he have that mentality? Ken was never one to look for neither fame nor recognition.

 ** _If you don't want to develop another shadow, then don't ever have those kinds of thoughts._**

Ken stole the ball.

 ** _You think you like to play sports for recognition? Hell no. You like soccer because you have a passion for it, not because you want to be famous for it._**

 _Shut up._

Ken laid it in and scored.

 ** _You know what? You were never good at soccer. No-one in the varsity team gave a damn about you._**

Kage-Ken snickered with a hint of restraint. He tried to do the taunt shadows do, but Ken seemed unfazed by it. He wasn't going to accept this. He was bluffing when he said that another shadow could develop, but who knows? It could be true.

 ** _You're just a midfielder who only had two goals in his life. You'll never get the recognition you wanted._**

Ken raised his hand and excused to his coach to be sent the clinic because of a _sudden headache_. His permission was granted and trudged across the halls to the school doctor's clinic. He begged for his shadow to stop.

 ** _You will never be someone like Leo Messi. Never. You'll just be some midfielder named_** **Ken Amada** ** _._**

* * *

He said to the present doctor while he was holding his tears of discouragement back, "I-I have to rest up . . . I g-got a severe headache w-while playing. I'm d-dizzy."

The concerned doctor guided him to one of the beds and set him down there. He gave Ken a syrup for headaches. He pushed it away weakly.

"I'm not a kid; please, give me capsules or pills."

The doctor handed him a capsule and watched Ken down it. He had struggles when it stuck on his throat for a second, but he washed it away. He asked him questions to determine the source of his headache like what he ate or what activities he had. Ken answered all of them. The doctor gathered his reports and studied it, while allowing Ken to rest up.

 ** _You don't matter to the team. The team is better off without you._**

Ken punched his forehead several times, while biting his lower lip. He whispered, "Stop, please."

 ** _Hurting yourself won't stop me._**

"I'm sorry." His voice cracked halfway through the sentence.

 ** _You're such a pussy. You don't plan on proving yourself that you can be a forward. You just plan to quit and play something you don't even have a passion with. Horrible. Weak human. Oh, and also, you're trying hard to be someone you're not. "I don't take syrup." Oh my, oh my, such a mature person. Oh—and no-one's going to like you as much as Koro-chan because everyone doesn't care about you. I bet Pharos is just faking that he wants to be your best friend. Fuck it; maybe even Koro-chan's faking it. No-one likes you._**

"Please, stop. I'm so, so sorry . . ."

The doctor asked while reading the paper, "Are you sure you're alright? Who are you talking to?"

"I-I'm fine. I'm just . . . talking to . . . uh . . ."

"Yourself?" The doctor chuckled. "It's fine. People sometimes talk to themselves. I just don't get why you have to apologize to yourself."

Ken's heart was throbbing in pain. Why did his shadow have to be so . . . _mean_? He had already apologized. What else did he want?

 ** _I want you to take back what you said._**

 _Uh . . . what?_ Ken stopped sobbing and stared at the ceiling.

 ** _Say that you love football. Say that you'd rather be an unrecognized midfielder than a basketball star who doesn't love basketball. Do it or I'll brainwash you to say it._**

 _Brainwash?_

 ** _Shadow powers. Forget that and say it. And not just say it; live it. I want you to stay as a midfielder without the temptations of being a basketball player. If you really want it, work your way to become a forward. Dad loved your soccer play. It would disappoint him if you changed your game now._**

 _Is that it?_

 ** _Yeah._**

 _Fine. I love soccer. I promise to work my best to become a forward._

 ** _Good. I'm the best shadow ever._**

 _Shut up._

* * *

Once school was done, Ken rushed outside. The urge to go home as soon as possible overpowered Ken. A yawn escaped his mouth. He overslept in the clinic and skipped the afternoon classes. He'll just beg for help from his classmates the day after for anything he missed.

 ** _I really want to kill shadows tonight._**

 _You're absolutely not going on a rampage._

He yawned one more time. But since his eyes were closed, he bumped into someone at the gate. His bag cushioned his fall. He apologized as he stood up.

A feminine voice said, "Careful, Yu-kun." She helped the Yu-guy up. She faced Ken and bowed.

 _Whoa, she's so . . ._

 ** _Pretty._**

Her skin was as white as ash. Pale, like all blood was drained. It's like she has never been exposed to sunlight throughout her whole life. Her hair was dull brown at first, but it shone like copper under the bright spring environment. She tied her hair with a high ponytail, along with barrettes tied as XXII. Her eyes were striking red. Her nose was small and cute. The light pink lipstick she was subtle. She was wearing a red school uniform, a red ribbon, a dark red skirt, and gray shoes. She must be a non-Gekkoukan student.

Coincidentally, she had the same earphones as Minato, only in red.

"Sorry for the collision. My friend, Yu-kun, is a bit clumsy."

"I told you to call me by my last name, not Yu."

"Okay, Narukami-kun. Are you happy?"

Ken shook his head, while admiring the female stranger. "No, it's my fault. My eyes were closed because I was yawning, so I take the blame."

 ** _KENDON'TPANICIT'SJUSTAGIRLOLDERTHANYOUKEEPCALMTAKEDEEPBREATHS._** The image of Kage-Ken heaving loads of air made Ken grin. Probably something good to impress her.

"It's good." Her voice drifted off. She _analyzed_ every single detail of Ken. Because she was close, he broke in sweat.

 ** _WHYISSHEELOOKINGATUSLIKETHATSTANDSTRAIGHTEYESFORWARDBIGSMILE._**

 _Chill out._

 ** _Okay._**

"Say . . . aren't you . . . Ken Amada? Gekkoukan elementary's best midfielder? One of Japan's best midfielders?"

 _Best . . . midfielder?_

Ken stuttered, "Y-Yeah. That's m-me alright. Why?"

 _She just said I'm Gekkoukan's best mid._

The girl squealed in delight and pulled out her phone and stole hundreds of photos of her and Yu Narukami with Ken. He didn't know what to do, so he just let the girl do what she wanted. With every picture taken, his smile grew wider and wider. He liked it.

"According to the stats, you're Japan's best midfielder under thirteen years old. It's such a pleasure meeting you! One of my dormmates admires you! He's your age. You inspired him to become a midfielder."

 _Best midfielder . . . according to stats? I never knew about this._

"You probably don't know about it, because media doesn't typically announce these about guys like you because they want you elementary students to focus on your studies, not stats."

Yu tapped her bicep with a bored expression. "Can we go now, Arisato-chan?"

 _Arisato?_

"No! We are treating Amada-san to Hagakure ramen as much as he likes or my name isn't Minako Arisato!"

 _Minako Arisato?_

 ** _Ramen?_**


End file.
